


A Guide to The Laws of Attraction: How the Grim Reaper Fell in Love with Lady Life

by Foilfreak



Category: Hajime no Ippo | Fighting Spirit
Genre: ...maybe, And Lots of It, Angst, But so is Rie so it’s ok, Canon Compliant, Gen, Getting Together, I bumped the rating up, I’m gonna try but don’t be mad if I deviate a bit from the canon story, Love Story, Original Characters - Freeform, Ryo is an asshole, Swearing, This is not the direction I thought this story would go, Will update tags when needed, but honestly I’m here for it, but i figured id do it anyways, not that it really matters all that much, only a little bit tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2019-08-11 00:51:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 94,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16465562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foilfreak/pseuds/Foilfreak
Summary: Mashiba Ryo had never been one for relationships. His distant and cynical demeanor, coupled with his intimidating and scary appearance, made Ryo a less-than-desirable candidate for potential partners; not that this bothered him. As far as Ryo was concerned, relationships were too much effort for how much trouble you got because of them, and he had absolutely no intentions of ever being in one himself… at least, that’s what he thought.Things begin to change however when a mysterious woman he saves in an alleyway makes it her life’s goal to befriend Ryo, much to the raven-haired man’s annoyance. In some cruel twist of fate however, the more he learns about the annoying, prideful, aggressive, determined, resourceful, kind, caring, and amazing young woman, the more Ryo ends up falling in love with her.With his friendship, with the first person to ever truly accept him for who he was, hanging in the balance, will Ryo hide his feelings for the young woman who smashed her way into his heart, in order to preserve their friendship, or will he risk losing her entirely in his desperate pursuit for something more?





	1. Contact

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and welcome to my new trainwreck of a story. For those of you who don't know me, I go by Foilfreak here on the inter webs, and I am very well known for writing some of the most self-indulgent fanfiction the internet has ever had the misfortune of reading. I’ve had this idea for a Mashiba-centric fan fiction for a long time now, and I’ve now decided that I want to make that idea into a full story. I don’t know how long this fic is going to be, nor can I promise regular and consistent updates. I can promise you however, that once I start a fic, I will do everything in my power to finish it, so if you notice that I haven’t updated in a little while, just leave me a comment and that usually gives me the motivation to churn out a couple more chapters. Anyways, I’m going to stop talking now, I hope you enjoy chapter 1 of my fic!

It was a cold and windy day in March. The sky was covered with thick, grey, heavy clouds, the ground was slightly damp from all the rain that had fallen recently, and the annoyingly long and tedious walk from home to work had just become even more annoying and unpleasant. Needless to say, Mashiba Ryo was not having a good day.

 

As the man trudged his way down the sidewalk, people side eyed him, some outright starred, a little boy pointed and asked why he looked so grumpy, his mother grabbed him and practically pulled him to the other side of the street. The kids didn’t bother him all that much; they starred because everyone else starred, it was the adults that pissed him off. Mocking at him, judging him, looking down on him even though they didn’t know jack-shit about him or the things he had been through. Just thinking about it made the young man’s blood boil.

 

Deciding that he didn’t feel like dealing with the glances and stares of random passerby’s, Ryo ducked into a nearby alleyway, using the narrow passes between buildings as shortcuts that would hopefully get him to work on time. Ducking into his 3rd alley, Ryo came to a halt, immediately noticing that this alley was not empty, like the others.

 

Just as he was about to turn and exit the alley, Ryo noticed that something wasn’t right here. Tucked into the darkness of the alley were two men and a woman. The woman in question was short, had blonde chin-length hair, brown eyes, and currently had her back against the wall of one of the buildings and was clutching her purse to her chest as the two men leered at her.

 

“Come on lady, just hand over yer money like a good little girl and we promise we won’t do nothin’ to ya” the first man stated. The second one stepped closer to the woman.

 

“Ya, hand it over or we might just have to resort to… extreme measures” the man says, reaching a hand toward the hem of the woman’s skirt. She slaps his hand away and tries to step back, but runs right into the wall. Both of the muggers laugh at her.

 

“Better be careful Ichigo, this one’s feisty” the first mugger said mockingly.

 

“Aww, girls are so cute when they try to defend themselves” the second mugger leers. Both men burst out laughing. Ryo watches with mild curiosity as the woman’s expression changes from nervousness and fear to outright rage.

 

“I’ll show you feisty you little **FUCKERS** ” the woman roars, kicking her foot out and ramming it right into the groin of the first mugger, who yells in agony before sinking to the pavement, clutching himself. She then spins on the second mugger, digging her high heeled shoe into his stomach, sending him crashing to the pavement as well. The woman takes her chance and bolts in the opposite direction as fast as she can.

 

Ryo stands rooted in his spot, more than a little impressed by the woman’s sudden retaliation. Unfortunately the woman’s luck runs out fast, as her heel catches on a bit of uneven pavement and she falls face first onto the ground. Though clearly still in pain, the second mugger staggers up from the ground, now enraged after having been beaten by a woman, and Ryo’s eyes widen as he pulls a knife out of his back pocket and runs after the women.

 

“YOU’RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT YOU LITTLE BITCH!” The woman covers herself as much as she can as the man goes to strike her, but the blade never hits her. Mashiba, who had decided that he didn’t feel like witnessing an innocent young woman get murdered today, had caught up with the wannabe thief and held his arm in a death grip.

 

“Ow, l-let go of me” the mugger demanded, crying out in pain when Ryo tightened his hold on his arm.

 

“Looks like you guys bit off more than you could chew” Ryo says darkly. The mugger looks up at him and gasps, fear spreads across his face.

 

“W-who the hell are you?” The mugger asks, terrified. Ryo smiles and begins to chuckle darkly, tightening his grip so he can lift the man off the ground and bring him to eye level. At this point the man is absolutely terrified.

 

“I’m the guy whose about to teach you why you don’t mess with defenseless women in back alleys” Ryo growls, before tossing the man over his shoulder and then smashing him into the ground. The next several minutes are spent beating the ever-living shit out of the two would-be muggers, and by the time Ryo is finally satisfied, both men are bruised, bloodied, and unconscious in a pile behind a dumpster can. Chuckling to himself, Ryo wipes his bloodied hands on his jacket and turns to gather his things and exit the alley, only to realize that the woman he had technically just saved was still there, sitting in the exact spot she had fallen in.

 

The woman was staring at him, her honey colored eyes bored holes through this jacket, as though she were trying to look at something directly behind him. Steeling himself, Ryo began walking forward, making sure to go around her as much as possible, a silent gesture that he meant her no harm. As he exited the alley, Ryo glanced back at the narrow passage to see if the woman had gotten up yet. As he crossed the road and was about to go through another shortcut, Ryo finally saw the woman stagger out of the alley, using the wall as support. She appeared to be looking for something.

 

People began noticing the woman’s state and started going up to her, asking if she was ok. She tried to wave them away but they seemed insistent, and the last Ryo saw of the woman was the look of recognition that flashed across her face as she watched him disappear behind the wall of the Ramen shop across the street.


	2. My Treat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went on a bit of a writing spree the other day, so here’s chapter 2 I guess.

A couple months had passed since Ryo had helped that woman in the back alleyway on his way to work, and frankly, the raven-haired man had all but forgotten about it, having kept his ‘good deed’ to himself. 

 

Ryo yawned as he walked down the street, his overactive mind having kept him up  **again** , resulting in him feeling tired, drained, and in an even worse mood than usual. Unfortunately, the bills wouldn’t pay themselves, and with Kumi still in high school and only working part time, that meant he was the one bringing in most of the money each month, so tired or not, to work he went.

 

At one point, a sign caught Ryo’s eye, and the young man stopped to take a closer look at it. The sign was for a small local cafe and bakery that served home brewed coffee and fresh baked pastries. Although Ryo wasn’t exactly a fan of coffee, he knew he was going to need some kind of pick-me-up if he was going to make it through today’s deliveries. 

 

A rush of warm air greeted Ryo when he opened the door to the cafe, and the smell of coffee beans and baking bread immediately filled his nostrils. There were a few tables that lined the right hand wall of the cafe and a checkout area to the left where you could order drinks and pastries from. Heading over to the checkout desk, Ryo waits in line behind a few people, mostly couples, and tries not to fall asleep while standing up. 

 

“Hello, how can I help you today?” Ryo was brought back to reality by the sound of the man’s voice from behind the counter, indicating that it was now his turn.

 

“I’ll take a cup of coffee, black” Ryo grumbles tiredly. The man types something into the register before looking back up at him.

 

“What size would you like?” Ryo looks up at the menu and glances around for the sizes. He cringes slightly upon noticing how expensive a simple cup of coffee was.

 

“Uh, Gimme a small” he responds awkwardly. The cashier finished ringing up his order so Ryo reaches into his gym bag to pull out his wallet and pay. Just as he’s about to hand the money over to the cashier, the sound of hurried footsteps followed by something small but fast plowing into him, knocks him out of the way of the counter.

 

“I’M PAYING FOR HIS DRINK!” The person yells, breathing heavily from overexertion. Ryo manages to regain his balance without losing his grip on the money he had in his hand, although he can already feel himself losing his grip on his blood pressure, which is beginning to rise rapidly. Ryo turns to the person who dared to knock into him, ready to give him a piece of his mind, and his fists. Just as he’s about to slug the goddamn son-of-a-bitch over the back of the head however, he notices the short stature, chin-length blonde hair, and honey brown eyes of the woman currently standing next to him.

 

“You” Ryo says, his eyes widening in shock as he realizes that it was the same woman he saved in the alley back in March. She turns to him and smiles warmly, still out of breath.

 

“Hey you” she breathes, before turning to the cashier, who looks very confused as to what it happening.

 

“Here, I’m paying” the woman says once again, taking out a credit card and handing it to the man. Ryo grabs the woman by the wrist and pulls her away from the counter.

 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Ryo demands, harshly.

 

“What does it look like? I’m buying you a drink” she responds, as though it were the most obvious thing in the entire world. Ryo grits his teeth in frustration.

 

“Look lady, I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t need some random stranger coming around, knocking into me, and paying for my disgusting cup of bean water. So why don’t you do us both a favor and. Get. Lost” he spits. He expects the woman to be taken aback, to be put off by his rudeness, and maybe even start crying as she runs out of the cafe. What he doesn’t expect is for the woman’s eyes to narrow at him, her lip to curl upwards into a scowl, and for her to step forward into his space, her face only a few inches away from his.

 

“You listen man, I’m just trying to be nice and pay you back for helping me out in that alleyway a few months back, but your fragile man-pride is making that a bit difficult. So why don’t you do us both a favor and stop being such a monumental piss-baby and let me pay for your fucking drink” she spits back. Ryo stands in silence for a moment as the woman continues to stare him down. 

 

A part of Ryo told him that he should be furious that this woman, who had forcefully plowed into him when he was just trying to pay for his stupid coffee, had just insulted him. Another part of him couldn’t help but be impressed by this strange woman’s resolve and determination. Any other person, man or woman, who confronted him would have been sent running away screaming in fear by now, and yet this woman was not only standing her ground against him, but there also wasn’t so much as an ounce of fear in her eyes. Interesting.

 

Ryo scoffed and averted his gaze from the woman, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

 

“Fine. Do whatever you want” he relents, knowing that if he doesn’t, he’ll end up spending the rest of his goddamn day butting heads with her.

 

“Excellent” she says happily. “I’d also like to add a mocha chai latte to that order, and go ahead and make whatever he ordered a large.”

 

The cashier standing behind the counter looked at the woman with a mixture of fear and awe as he typed the rest of the order into the machine.

 

“Um, will that be all for you today?” He asks nervously, glancing back and forth between Mashiba and the woman.

 

“Not unless my friend here wants anything else” the blonde says sweetly, turning to Ryo, who avoids her gaze out of spite.

 

“Looks like that’ll be all for today” she responds, smiling at the man. He takes the woman’s credit card and runs it through the machine, handing it back to her once it’s done.

 

“And can I get a name for the order?” He asks.

 

“Araya Rie” she says. Mashiba eyes the woman out of the corner of his eye as she finished paying and begins walking toward the waiting area, motioning for him to follow, which he does, albeit rather reluctantly.

 

“So, what’s your name?” The woman, Rie, asks him. Ryo remains silent leaning against the counter, hoping that by remaining silent and ignoring the woman she will eventually get the hint and go away.

 

“OW WHAT THE FUCK” Ryo yells as a sharp pain spreads throughout his left shin, quickly realizing that it was because Rie had kicked him.

 

“WHEN SOMEONE ASKS YOU A QUESTION YOU ANSWER, YOU ILL-MANNERED APE” she yells angrily. The other people in the cafe are staring at the two arguing individuals with distaste and the staff in the back were whispering amongst themselves, likely discussing whether or not they should ask them to leave. Ryo ground his teeth together and took a deep breath, trying to calm his ever rising blood pressure.

 

“What does it matter to you?” Ryo spat, annoyed. The expression on Rie’s face shifted from an angry glare to a coy smile as she leaned against the counter.

 

“Think of it this way. The faster you answer my questions, the faster I’m going to get bored with you and leave you alone” she says in a disgustingly sweet voice that makes Ryo’s skin crawl. 

 

“Mashiba Ryo” he grunts in responds. The blonde looks at him curiously for a moment.

 

“Mashiba… Ryo?” She says questioningly, though more to herself than anyone else. Ryo raises an eyebrow at her as her confusion quickly changes to recognition.

 

“Hey wait a second, I know you, I’ve seen your name on the list” Rie says loudly, causing a few people to turn and look at them.

 

“Uh… the list?” Now it’s Ryo’s turn to be confused. How the hell did this random woman know who he was? And what the hell was this ‘list’ she was screaming about?

 

“Ah, sorry. I guess I should explain myself huh?”

 

‘No shit’ Ryo thinks to himself.

 

“Well, long story short, I’m a graphic designer and some of the work I do revolves around making and designing the posters that announce the upcoming boxing matches. And your name is one that I’ve seen several times as I lay out the text” she explains. “You’re a featherweight boxer with a record of 1 win and 0 losses, with a magnificent KO I should add, since your debut match back in December. And I also happen to know that you’re going to be participating in the upcoming Eastern Japan Rookie King Tournament, along with all the other hopeful rookie contenders like Hayami Ryuichi, Ozuma Jason, Miyata Ichirou, and Makunouchi Ippo, right?”

 

Ryo is shocked by how much this woman seems to know about him and boxing in general. Most women had no interest in high contact sports like boxing, and the ones that were interested were only in it because they thought the fighter was good looking. This woman not only seemed to be interested in the sport, but was also surprisingly up to date with everything that was going on in the Japanese Boxing World. Despite how annoyed he was by her intrusive conversation, Ryo couldn’t help but be impressed.

 

“You seem to know a lot about boxing, you a fan or something?” Ryo asked, curiously.

 

“Mmmm, I guess you could say something like that. I don’t go see the matches regularly or anything like that, but I do make a point to keep up to date with everything that’s going on. Although, with how good the lineup for this year’s Rookie Championship looks, I’m thinking I might want to book myself a few tickets and go see some matches” Rie says, turning to look at the man beside her. 

 

“Maybe I’ll come see one of your matches” she suggests coyly. Something about the way she says that causes a lump to form in the back of Ryo’s throat, and an uncomfortable tightness to form in his chest. He scowls and averts his gaze from her.

 

“Whatever. Like I give a damn about what you do” he says, and to any other person it might have come off as rude or mean, but Rie just laughs, which only causes the coil in his chest to tighten further. 

 

‘What the hell is this woman doing to me?’ Ryo questions internally, as he sneaks glances at the blonde standing next to him, who was currently looking out the large windows of the coffee shop, observing what was going on outside.

 

“Uh, I have a large black coffee and a large Mocha chai latte for Araya Rie” an employee calls out, holding two large cups in his hands.

 

“Right here” Rie says, holding her hands out and taking the cups from the man, thanking him.

 

“Here you go” the blonde says, handing Ryo his drink before taking a small sip of her own.

 

“Thanks” he says.

 

“Not a problem, after all I’m doing this to thank you for helping me out with those muggers” Rie falls silent and averts her gaze down to her shoes.

 

“You know, when that guy came running at me with the knife… I thought he was gonna kill me.” Ryo raises an eyebrow at her questioningly.

 

“I know it probably didn’t seem like that big of a deal to you, seeing how easily you dealt with them, but you really did save my life back there, and I know buying you a drink probably doesn’t make up for something like that but… I want you to know that I really am grateful for what you did” Rie says with the kindest and most genuine smile that Ryo had ever seen in his entire life. Ryo says nothing in response to that, and a moment of silence passes between the two before Rie sighs gathers her things.

 

“Well, I think it’s about time I got to work. It was nice talking with you, Mashiba” she says, turning on her heel and beginning to exit the cafe. Just before she walks out however, she turns back to Ryo and flashes another smile at him.

 

“See you around” she says as she finally leaves the building and begins walking down the road. Ryo stays in the cafe for a little while longer, taking large gulps of his disgusting cup of coffee which, despite how nasty it tastes, is doing a fairly good job of waking him up.

 

The cafe is now eerily quiet without Rie talking his ears off, but instead of feeling relieved that the woman had finally left him alone, a part of Ryo felt almost sad that she had left so soon. Hell, a part of him wondered if anything that just happened in the last 30 minutes was real, or if he had finally lost it and started hallucinating about a strange woman with blonde hair, a feisty personality, and a serious lack of self-preservation.

 

As much as Ryo wanted to be annoyed with the woman, the raven-haired man couldn’t help but be intrigued by her. She was just so… unusual. Never in his life had Ryo met anyone who wasn’t bothered by his rude and intimidating personality. It was weird, but also, kind of nice in a variety of strange ways.

 

Ryo tossed his now empty coffee cup into the garbage can as he walked out the door of the cafe. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Ryo casts a glance in the direction Rie had walked in when she left the cafe earlier. Although he’d never admit it, Ryo couldn’t help but be interested in the strange woman who had butted her way into his morning, and as he started walking down the street toward work, a part of him couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever see her again. 

 

A part of him couldn’t help but hope that he would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m liking the way things are going thus far. Let me know what you think of this chapter, this one has actual dialogue and is the first glimpse of what Rie is like and how she and Ryo interact with each other. Obviously things will change slightly as the story progresses and the characters get to know each other better, but for the most part, this is the general idea of how they get along. I hope you guys enjoyed, leave a comment down below letting me know what you think, and as always I will see you all soon for chapter 3. Bye!


	3. Tickets to a Show

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look a new chapter!

It was now the beginning of June, and the Eastern Japan Rookie Championship was in full swing. 

 

Ryo’s first match was a complete joke. His opponent was just another weakling who he beat to a bloody pulp in the first round without even breaking a sweat, and from the looks of things, his second, third, and fourth round matches would go much the same way. Unfortunately, the weight training Ryo had to do in order to make the weight limit for the featherweight class was a royal pain in his ass. On top of working out at the gym 7 days a week, Ryo also worked a full time job as a delivery man 5 days a week. Those two things piled on to one another left Ryo feeling starved and tired pretty much all the time, which only served to worsen his already abysmal mood.

 

A couple weeks had passed since the cafe incident in which Ryo had been forcefully introduced to Rie, and since then, the blonde had fallen into the incredibly annoying habit of popping up when he least expected it. Most times she saw him she would run up to him like they were best friends, which they most certainly weren’t, and try to start some sort of conversation with him. At first, Ryo made a point to try and ignore her when she first came up to him, hoping that if he just didn’t acknowledge her that she’d get bored and go away. Unfortunately, that tactic worked about as well as it did the first time he tried it; every time he tried to ignore her, Rie would reward him with a sharp and surprisingly painful kick to the shins, which worked marvelously in getting him to talk to her.  

 

On days when she couldn’t stop and force Ryo to talk with her, Rie had developed the even more annoying habit of simply waving as she walked down the street, smiling that stupid smile of hers that made Ryo’s breath hitch and the tips of his ears turn just the slightest shade of red. Ideally, the best thing for Ryo to do in that situation would be to just ignore her, pretend he didn’t see her and continue on with his day like nothing happened. The only problem with that plan is that this isn’t an ideal world, and as a result, every time they caught sight of each other, she would wave and smile at him, and for some unknown godforsaken reason, Ryo would nod or grunt in response, unable to bring himself to just ignore her. Every. Single. Fucking. Time.

 

Today was a day much like any other day, in that Rie was currently talking his ear off as he made his way to work. As it turns out, the company that Rie works at is just a block or so past where Ryo makes his deliveries from, and as a result of both of them taking the same path to get to work everyday, the blonde had decided, without consulting him, that they should walk together. Ryo had long since zoned out of the conversation, and had absolutely no idea what the woman was talking about, that is until she jabbed his left arm to get his attention.

 

“OW, what do you want?” He asks angrily, resisting the urge to rub the area where her elbow had made forceful contact with the tender flesh of his biceps.

 

“I asked if you were doing anything this weekend” Rie says indignantly, obviously displeased that Ryo hadn’t been listening to her. The taller man raises an eyebrow at her.

 

“Why do you want to know?” Ryo asks. Rie stops for a moment and begins fishing through her bag. Ryo considers making a break for it, but ultimately decides to stop and wait for her, not wanting to be chased down the street by an angry blonde woman who doesn’t even reach his chin. After a short pause, Rie finally pulls two tickets out of her handbag, both of them for a boxing match.

 

“I have a friend who managed to grab me some seats at the upcoming match for the Eastern Japan Rookie Championship match. If I remember correctly, this match will be between Ozuma Jason, the American soldier who specializes in fast and powerful right hooks, and Makunouchi Ippo, the featherweight underdog who’s making quite a name for himself with his monstrously powerful punches” she explains. “I know they aren’t in the same block of the tournament as you, but based on how well they’ve been doing thus far, even with Hayami in the runnings, there’s a high chance that you might end up fighting one of them in the finals, so I was wondering if you wanted to go to the match with me?”

 

Ryo stares blankly at Rie as he weighs his options. One half of Ryo tells him that he should say no, tell her that he’s busy or that he has no interest in spending any more time with her than he already has to. The more logical half of Ryo says that scoping out the competition in the opposite block would be a good way for him to figure out how powerful his potential final opponent would be, without having to spend any of his own money to get himself a ticket. As much as he hated to admit it, the pros of accepting Rie’s offer far outweighed any cons his brain could come up with.

 

“Fine, I’ll go” Ryo says, averting his gaze from Rie’s when she smiles happily in response, putting the tickets back into her purse and continuing to walk down the street.

 

“Awesome! In that case, I’ll met up with you outside of Kourakuen Hall this Saturday?” She asks, looking up at the raven-haired man for some kind of confirmation. Ryo grunts.

 

“Ya, sure. Whatever.”

 

“Perfect” Rie exclaims, falling silent as she walks next to Ryo. As they are approaching Ryo’s place of work, Rie suddenly darts ahead, turning back slightly as she runs.

 

“Don’t forget this Saturday, you hear me? Or you’ll never hear the end of it. See you around” she waves before darting off into the distance. Ryo stands outside the front gate of the delivery building, watching as the head of blonde hair gets smaller and smaller until she eventually fades from view. Ryo shakes his head and heads into the changing room to get ready for work, somehow already regretting his decision to go with Rie to that boxing match. 

 

Oh well, too late to turn back now.

 

Saturday comes in the blink of an eye, and against his better judgement, Ryo finds himself leaning against a wall near the entrance of Kourakuen Hall, a whole 10 minutes early, waiting for Rie to show up with their tickets. A nudge to his right arm pulls him from his thoughts, and speak of the devil, it was Rie.

 

“Hey you” she greets casually. Unlike all the other times Ryo had ever seen her, Rie was not wearing her usual attire of a skirt suit, handbag, and high heels. Instead, the blonde wore a pair of loose fitting jeans that were rolled up at the ankle, a tucked-in baggy t-shirt with some design on it, a black belt, a pair of clean white sneakers, a green wind blazer, black bedazzled backpack, and a blue baseball cap. It was an unusual look, but somehow Rie managed to make it look half-way decent, not that Ryo would ever tell her that.

 

“Took you long enough” Ryo huffed, pushing himself off the wall and shoving his hands into his pockets as he makes his way toward the ticket booth. Rie trots to catch up with him.

 

“What do you mean ‘took you long enough’? I’m a whole 5 minutes early” the blonde defends as the two get into line. Ryo can already feel people staring at the unlikely duo as Rie continues to yammer on about something as she gets out their tickets. Whether or not the blonde woman realizes the judgemental stares and whispers of those around her, Ryo is unsure. At one point though, he sees Rie turn around and glare harshly at the poor sap behind them, who had muttered some kind of insult about Ryo, and the raven-haired man can’t help the small smile that spreads across his lips when the twerp immediately shuts his mouth and averts his gaze nervously from Rie, who looked like she was getting ready to sock the little geek right in the face. A small part of Ryo wished that she had.

 

The two finally make it to the front of the line, and Rie hands over their tickets to the clerk with a smile, before heading through the door. For the most part Kourakuen Hall was always at least semi-busy, but it was even more so this time of year when the Rookie Championships were going on, and as a result of that, Kourakuen Hall was currently packed with people, much to Ryo’s annoyance.

 

“Wow” Rie says, looking around the large venue in wonder and awe. “You know I’ve been here a few times before in the past, but I always forget how big this place is.”

 

Ryo shrugs his shoulders.

 

“Eh, it’s ok.” Rie casts him an amused glance.

 

“Oh come on, don’t you find these kinds of places exciting. The big stadiums, the bright lights, the loud boom of the announcers, and the cheering of the crowd. It seems pretty amazing to me” Rie says as they enter the stands that overlook the four walls of the ring, located front and center stage for all to see.

 

“The only times I ever come here is when I’m in the matches, so I can’t say I feel your sentiment” Ryo states as they take their seats. Rie rolls her eyes at him.

 

“Man you really are a downer, aren’t you?” She asks, rhetorically.

 

“If you’ve got a problem with it then you can go ahead and leave” Ryo snaps back at her, but Rie simply laughs in response. Ryo can already feel the tips of his ears beginning to turn red in embarrassment, so he averts his gaze from the blonde as much as possible and focuses his attention on the announcer, who had just gotten into the ring and was beginning to introduce the fighters.

 

“ **Ladies and Gentlemen** ” the announcer’s voice booms throughout the venue. “ **Tonight is the much anticipated first round of this year’s Eastern Japan Rookie Championship Tournament A block division. Now without further ado, let’s meet this evening’s fighters.** ”

 

The crowd claps and cheers loudly in response.

 

“ **In the red corner, from Hachinohe Boxing Gym, with a record of 3 matches, 3 wins, and 3 KOs, weighing in at 125.75 lbs… OZUMA JASON.”**

 

The crowd cheers loudly as the dark skinned man raises his right glove and slowly makes his way toward the center of the ring.

 

“ **In the blue corner, from Kamogawa Boxing Gym, with a record of 2 matches, 2 wins, and 2 KOs, weighing 124 lbs… MAKUNOUCHI IPPO.** ”

 

The crowd once again breaks into a fit of cheers and applause as Makunouchi begins bowing in greeting to all four sides of the stadium.

 

“Wow, I guess boxers really do look differently in real life compared to in photos” Rie comments.

 

“What do you mean?” Ryo asks, curiously.

 

“Well, I’ve seen both Makunouchi and Ozuma before in pictures, and in all the ones I’ve seen, they both look to be around the same size, but now that I’m looking at them for the first time in real life, Ozuma looks way bigger than Makunouchi.”

 

“Ya, so? Is there something wrong with that?”

 

“No, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just a bit ironic that a boxer whose known for such incredibly powerful and devastating punches is so small, while the boxer whose made a name for himself using lightning fast and accurate right hooks is so big. You’d think the smaller, nimbler guy would specialize in fast and accurate punches while the bigger, stronger boxer would focus on using his devastating strength to crush opponents. Don’t you think?” Rie asks. Ryo hums and remains silent as he considers what to say.

 

“I suppose from your perspective that would make sense, but you’re forgetting one crucial fact about both fighters that influences their fighting styles” Ryo replies, not taking his eyes off the ring. Rie looks at him questioningly.

 

“And… what is that, exactly?” Ryo huffs, leaning down and using his elbows to prop himself up on his knees.

 

“Ozuma might be a lot bigger than Makunouchi, but they actually weigh about the same, give or take a pound or two” Ryo says. “Not to mention that both Makunouchi and Ozuma’s body types are actually perfect for their preferred fighting style.” Rie directs her attention to the two fighters, who are both getting ready for the opening bell to ring.

 

“Really” she asks. “How so?”

 

“Think of it this way, Makunouchi might be smaller than Ozuma, but his lower center of gravity makes it harder to knock him down than it would if he were facing someone his own height, making a win by two downs in one round highly unlikely. In terms of his punching power, he might not seem as big or muscular as Ozuma, but just looking at Makunouchi’s back tells me that he’s got some seriously strong muscles for a guy his size, which is probably the reason why his punches are so powerful” Ryo explains.

 

“And Ozuma?”

 

“In Ozuma’s case, his speed is more a result of muscle memory than anything else. He’s probably thrown that right hook so many times that the motion’s engraved itself into his soul, and on top of that, his taller frame actually puts him in perfect position to land powerful, well-timed blows on shorter opponents. You have any idea why that might be a problem for someone Makunouchi’s height?” Ryo asks, testing if she can come to the conclusion herself. Rie pauses to think for a moment.

 

“Well… the temple is a major pressure point on the body that can cause serious motor issues if it gets hit hard enough. So for a boxer like Makunouchi, who's at the perfect height for Ozuma to land a potentially debilitating blow, my guess is that he’s got to find some sort of way to dodge Ozuma’s right hooks, or at the very least avoid getting smashed up the side of his head. If he doesn’t manage to do that then he’ll probably be KOed within the first two rounds, right?” Rie says.

 

“That’s about what I was thinking” Ryo responds. The two fighters are now making their way back to their respective corners. The match is about to begin.

 

“So who do you think will win?” Rie asks. Ryo sighs as he observes the two fighters.

 

“I honestly don’t know. Despite the height advantage Ozuma has, Makunouchi could potentially end this whole thing with one hit if he manages to out-last Ozuma. On the other hand though, if Ozuma manages to land a solid hit to Makunouchi’s temple, the little dork could find himself flat on his back in no time.”  Rie hums in response and turns her full attention back to the ring. The stadium goes silent. The bell rings. The match starts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally two chapters but I decided to mash them together into one big long one. Thanks so much for reading my story, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and as always I will see you all very soon for chapter 4. Bye!


	4. Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They say the fastest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

Despite how much of a good fight Ozuma put up, Makunouchi claimed victory 2 minutes and 52 seconds into the second round with another one of his amazing KO punches. The crowd cheered as Makunouchi lifted his gloves in a celebratory pose, a large bump already beginning to form on the side of his face where Ozuma managed to land a few good hits.

 

Eventually the fans get up and begin filing out of the stadium, Ryo and Rie not far behind. Just as the two are about to exit Kourakuen hall, they quickly realize that it must have started raining sometime during the match.

 

“Oh great, it’s fucking pouring outside. Well so much for not having to do laundry this week” Ryo laments as he curses whatever god controls the weather for their poor timing.

 

“Hey” Rie begins, nudging his arm lightly.

 

“What?”

 

“My place isn’t too far from here. If you want, we can run over real quick and you can wait out the storm there.” Ryo eyes the blonde distrustfully for a moment, before casting a glance at the pouring rain outside. For Ryo, the idea of going over to a woman’s house, who he’s only known for a little less than 2 months by now, does not seem like that great of an idea. At the same time however, there was no way in hell he was getting home dry with this much rain falling down, and catching a cold because he decided to walk home in the pouring rain was the absolute last thing he wanted right now.

 

“Fine. Lead the way” Ryo sighs in defeat, sending a mental middle finger up to that weather god from earlier. The two adults run out the front doors of Kourakuen Hall, Rie leading the way. True to her word, it only takes about 5 minutes of sprinting for them to reach the large skyscraper that Ryo assumes must be where Rie lives. The first floor of the apartment complex is a central lobby, with a set of elevators to the right of the entrance, a little sitting area with chairs, a couch, and a fireplace to the left, and a front desk with an older, heftier man seated behind it along the back wall.

 

“Evening, Mr. Sato” Rie greets happily as she presses the button for the elevator. The desk clerk looks up from the book that her is reading and smiles, noticing Rie.

 

“Ah, Miss Araya, how are you this evening?” The older man asks.

 

“I’m fine thank you, and yourself?”

 

“Oh I’m doing just fine thank you. I see you have company with you this evening. Is he one of your coworkers?” Ryo stiffens as the older Mr. Sato turns his gaze to him. Thankfully Rie intervenes as the door to the elevator opens.

 

“Uh, I guess you could say something like that. Anyways have a good evening Mr. Sato” she says pushing Ryo into the elevator.

 

“And you as well Miss Araya” can be heard from the lobby as the doors close and the elevator begins to make its accent. A few moments later, the elevator dings and the doors open, revealing a long hallway with a number of different doors on either side of the wall. Rie exits the elevator with Ryo following close behind. The blonde walks until they reach a door with the number **1145** on it, which she uses a key from her backpack to unlock and then open the door.

 

Stepping inside Rie’s apartment, Ryo takes in the sight of the large, spacious living space. The walls are covered in a variety of different prints, paintings, and artworks that could rival the museum’s collection. Directly in front of the door was a small living room that had two chairs, a couch, and a coffee table all situated in front of a large television screen. The TV was sat on top of a horizontal bookcase, which appeared to be filled with a wide variety of different books and magazines. To the left was a dining room and kitchen fit with all the standard counter space, cabinets, and appliances one would expect from a kitchen, except with brand new looking counters, cabinets, and appliances. To the right was a small hallway, with two doors situated on the right wall, and one door against the back wall, likely a couple rooms and a bathroom.

 

“Come on in. Make yourself at home” Rie invited, toeing her sneakers off and depositing her backpack and coat in the storage closet directly next to the front door. For once, Ryo does as he is instructed without complaint, but as he is toeing off his shoes, a large blur speeds towards him and smacks into him. Ryo yells in surprise as he is nearly knocked to the ground by what he now realizes is dog, a pit bull to be specific.

 

“What the hell” Ryo sputters as the large dog runs, jumps, and leaps around him, barking excitedly all the while. The loud noise catches Rie’s attention as she peers in from the kitchen to see what’s going on.

 

“Koda!” She exclaims, opening her arms wide as the behemoth of a dog rams into her, knocking her to the floor, enthusiastically licking her face. Ryo watches in silence and shock as Rie practically cradles the massive dog in her arms, kissing the top of it’s head and talking to it as though it were a small child.

 

“What… the hell is that?” Ryo demands, pointing at the black and white spotted dog in Rie’s arms. She smiles and releases the dog, finally getting up off the floor.

 

“This, is Koda, my puppy” Rie says, giving the dog a loving pat on the head.

 

“Ya right, I’ve seen plenty of dogs in my life and that **thing** isn’t one of them. It’s practically a monster” Ryo bites, remaining in his original spot by the door, as far as away from the dog as possible. Rie scoffs in offense.

 

“How awful. Koda is not a monster. Why he’s nothing short of an angle aren’t you boy?” she coos, bending down and wrapping her arms around the massive dog. Ryo cringes as the dogs eyes focus in on him, and Rie seems to take notice of his discomfort.

 

“You aren’t afraid of dogs… are you?” Rie asks curiously, glancing over at Ryo.

 

“What? No, no I am not afraid of dogs… I just don’t like them, there’s a big difference.” Rie rolls her eyes at the taller man, clearly not convinced.

 

“Ok, whatever you say. But just to let you know, Koda doesn’t bite, so you can come in if you’d like”

 

“Ya whatever, just keep that thing away from me, got it.” Ryo regrets saying those words the second they come out of his mouth, as a sly and mischievous grin spreads across Rie’s face. The blonde stands up and points directly at Ryo.

 

“Koda. Go say hi to Mashiba” she instructs, and Ryo pales as the pit bull obediently stands up and runs over to him. Ryo yelps and backs himself as far into the corner as possible as the dog approaches, his arms thrown out in front of him protectively and his eyes squeezed shut as he prepares to be ripped to pieces. The excruciating pain of being eaten alive by the large dog never comes, so Ryo opens his eyes slightly, only to be met with the sight of the spotted pit bull sitting calmly at his feet, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth as he pants heavily.

 

“Told you he didn’t bite” Rie teases, causing a large blush to spread across Ryo’s face in embarrassment, realizing that he had been baited.

 

Koda, who had grown tired of waiting for attention, had lifted himself onto his hind legs, placing his front paws on Ryo’s stomach. The raven-haired man freezes, panic beginning to fill him as Koda’s claws begin to dig slightly into his abdomen.

 

“Koda, what have I told you about jumping on people. Come here, boy” Ryo breathes a sigh of relief when the dog hops off Ryo and trots obediently back to his master, who leads him into her bedroom, closing the door behind him.

 

“Not afraid of dogs, huh?” Rie teases once again as she passes Ryo on her way back to the kitchen.

 

“You are an evil, evil woman, you know that?” Ryo hisses as he follows the blonde to the kitchen. Rie laughs in response.

 

“You make that sound like a bad thing” she responds, winking at him. Ryo scowls and averts his gaze.

 

“You hungry?” Rie asks, opening her fridge and peering inside.

 

“Why?” Ryo asks, suspicious. Rie rolls her eyes as she turns to him.

 

“Because you’re in my house and I’m not about to send you home hungry after dragging you out to a boxing match with me” the blonde explains as though it were obvious. Ryo grunts but moves to stand behind Rie, looking into the fridge.

 

“What do you have?” He asks, browsing along the shelves.

 

“Mostly leftovers. I made a big batch of curry last night if your interested in that” she says. Ryo shrugs in response.

 

“Sure, that’s fine.” Moving out of the way so Rie can get a large pot out of the fridge, Ryo stands awkwardly in the middle of the dining room as she spoons the curry into bowls, throwing them both into the microwave.

 

“What do you want to drink?” Rie asks, pulling a couple glasses out of one of the cabinets.

 

“Uh. Water’s fine” he says, unsure of if he should be doing something other than standing around looking like a moron. Noticing a couple photos hanging on the wall by the TV, Ryo heads over there and starts looking at them. He wasn’t quite sure what is was, but something about being in Rie’s apartment seemed just a tad bit… invasive. Almost as though he was peeping into an intimate part of her life that no one else got to see often, even though she was the one to invite him. A weird feeling that Ryo would rather not explore at the present moment began to spread throughout his chest at the thought.

 

“So, uh… what are these pictures of?” Ryo asks awkwardly, pointing to the row of framed photos on the wall, all of them appearing to be from some kind of family trip. In the photos stood a tall man with pale skin, blonde hair, and brown eyes, next to him a Japanese woman with long black hair tied back into a ponytail wearing large sunglasses, in front of the two adults were three children, the first one obviously being Rie, the second a younger little girl with the same blonde hair as Rie, and the third was a little boy with short, spiky black hair, and slightly narrowed eyes. Ryo jumps slightly when Rie walks up behind. She smiles as she looks at the pictures.

 

“These pictures are from a trip me and my family took when we visited Ireland. I was probably 9 years old when these pictures were taken” she explains.

 

“Wow, Ireland? That’s a pretty long flight” Ryo comments, unsure of what to say. Rie shrugs her shoulders.

 

“Not really, I think it only ended up being about 4 hours. Although as a kid that probably felt like an eternity” Rie says. Ryo nods but frowns as soon as he realizes something.

 

“Wait… a 4 hour flight?” He questions the shorter woman.

 

“Yup” she confirms. Ryo furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

 

“Nonstop flights from Japan to Europe take 12 hours at least. How the hell did you fly from Japan all the way to Ireland, in 4 hours?” He questions. Rie looks at him in confusion for a moment before bursting out in laughter. Ryo scowls in response.

 

“What the hell is so funny” he spits between grinded teeth. After another moment, Rie finally manages to compose herself.

 

“No no, it’s not you. I just think it’s funny how you, of all people, are the first person to assume that I’m actually from Japan” she says

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryo questions.

 

“It means I’m not from here” Rie states bluntly, turning and heading back toward the kitchen once the timer for the microwave goes off.

 

“Wait… so you’re not from Japan?” Ryo begins, more confused now than he was before.

 

“You see the white guy in the pictures?” Rie asks pulling the two steaming bowls of curry out of the microwave.

 

“Ya”

 

“That’s my biological father” she explains. “I’m only half Japanese on my mother’s side, and to top it all off I was born and raised in England.”

 

“Oh” Ryo nods his head in understanding, casting a glance back at the picture. Looking at it now, it was painfully obvious that this was Rie’s family, and Ryo mentally kicked himself for not having realized that sooner, although in his defense, it wasn’t everyday he met someone with a white guy for a dad, in fact it wasn’t everyday that Ryo met someone who wasn’t a native Japanese. Even with the blonde hair, Ryo would have never guessed that Rie was from halfway across the world just by looking at her.

 

‘I guess that’s what Dad meant when he said looks can be deceiving’ Ryo thinks to himself.

 

Rie walks over to him with a bowl of steaming curry. Ryo accepts the bowl and follows the shorter woman to the dining room table, taking a seat across from her. A few moments of silence pass as they both simply sit and enjoy the curry which, Ryo has to admit, is pretty delicious.

 

“So...England” Ryo begins awkwardly after a few moments of silence. “What’s uh... what’s it like there?”

 

‘Oh great, now I’m the one starting the conversations’ Ryo laments to himself. Rie shrugs in response to his question.

 

“It’s nothing special. Sure there are some cool places to visit if you’re in places London or Manchester, but for the most part it's just a bunch of buildings, roads, and empty pastures” Rie says casually, shoving another spoonful of curry into her mouth.

 

“Were both your parents born in England?” Ryo asks, curiously.

 

“My dad was born in England but ironically, my mom actually was born in Japan, but was adopted by a British couple, my grandparents, shortly after she was born and was taken to England where she was raised.”

 

“The two other kids in the pictures?”

 

“My younger siblings” Rie says. “The little sister’s name is Kaori and my little brother’s name is Genji. Do you have any siblings?”

 

Ryo swallows what’s in his mouth before speaking.

 

“Uh, ya. Little sister. Her name’s Kumi.”

 

“Really?” Rie asks, her lips turning up into a smirk.

 

“Ya?” Ryo says, confused regarding her questioning gaze.

 

“I guess I’m just surprised. You don’t seem like the kind of guy who has a sister” Rie comments.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryo demands indignantly. Rie laughs.

 

“Oh nothing” Rie says, waving her hand. Silence falls between them again as they finish eating their meals. By the time Rie has cleared the table of their dirty dishes, the rain has finally stopped, and it’s time for Ryo to leave.

 

Putting his shoes on and opening the door, Ryo pauses in the doorway and turns back to Rie.

 

“So uh… thanks for, you know” Ryo begins awkwardly, unsure of what to say. Rie smiles.

 

“Not a problem. You sure you don’t want me to call you a cab or something? It’s kind of late.”

 

“Nah, I can walk, it’s not that big of a deal… thanks though.” Another moment of silence passes before Ryo finally moves out the doorway and into the hall.

 

“I guess I’ll see you later then?” Ryo asks, shoving his hands into his pockets and kicking the toe of his foot against the ground, not entirely sure why he was trying to be so painfully nice. Rie smiles at him again.

 

“Indeed you will. See you around, Ryo.” And with that, Rie closes the door, and the taller man is left standing alone in the empty hallway.

 

Ryo stares at the dark wood exterior of Rie’s front door, not entirely sure why he was still standing there, but also unwilling to leave just yet. After a few moments of standing around looking like an idiot, Ryo finally gathers his wits about him and begins making his way home, his hands shoved deep into the pocket of his jacket and his gaze cast downward toward his shoes, one singular train of thought running rampantly through his head.

 

She had called him Ryo. Why had she called him Ryo? The two had only met a little over a month ago and yet she was calling him by his first name as though they had known each other for years. The only people in Ryo’s life who had ever called him by his first name before were his late parents and his sister, and yet them saying his name didn’t get this kind of a reaction out of him.

 

Something about how the ‘r’ rolled off her tongue made his heart stop beating, and the way she dragged out the ‘o’ for just a second longer than normal made his stomach do somersaults. Just thinking about it again sent shivers down his spine. Ryo spent the entire duration of his walk home contemplating the significance of Rie calling him by his first name, and why he even cared in the first place. But as Ryo finally arrived at the bottom of the staircase that led up to his apartment, a horrifying realization came to him.

 

He liked it. He liked the way Rie said his name. He wasn’t sure why he liked it but something about the casual yet playful tone of her voice took something as mundane as his goddamn name and turned it into a tune that he’d gladly listen to over and over and over again.

 

Or perhaps it wasn’t just the tone of her voice that made his name sound so tantalizing as it rolled off her tongue, but rather Rie herself. As much as he tried to convince himself that Rie was annoying and a pain in the ass to deal with, Ryo could no longer deny that he was beginning to like the blonde more and more. She was prideful, rude, and had a tongue as sharp as a knife, but then again, so did he, and on the other hand she was also nice, witty, kind, fierce, and one of the most genuine people Ryo had ever met. Maybe, just maybe he was…

 

Ryo grits his teeth and shakes his head viscously. What the hell was he doing? He had a match coming up. He didn’t have time to waste thinking about some woman and the stupid way she said his name. His first and only priority is to continue winning his matches until the Rookie of the Year title was in his grasp, and if he continued to play his cards right, his shot at the championship belt would only be little more than a hop, skip, and a jump away.

 

Ryo grits his teeth in annoyance as he began to trudge his way up the stairs toward his apartment, but despite his best efforts, thoughts of Rie keep popping into his mind no matter how many times he tries to shove them back down. Ryo sighs in defeat as he drops his keys for the third time in a row, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

 

“What the fuck is this woman doing to me?” He says aloud to no one in particular, before bending down and picking his keys back up. Once he finally manages to unlock and open the front door, Ryo enters the apartment, doing his best to make as little noise as possible as not to wake Kumi. As he sneaks his way down the hall and closes the door to his room behind him, Ryo sighs, resigning himself to a very long night, and a very cold shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s another chapter. I’ve been super busy with school lately so I probably won’t have very much time to continue writing until later this week, but I hope you enjoy this chapter regardless, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 5. Bye!


	5. Friends...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look, a new chapter!!!

Ryo spends the next couple weeks grinding his teeth over the entire situation with Rie. Thankfully, he’s able to forget about her, for the most part, when he is working, training, or fighting in matches, but the second he isn’t doing something his mind will immediately begin to wonder right back to her, and it was seriously starting to piss him off.

 

These frustrated emotions finally boiled over one morning as he and Rie were walking to work together. It wasn’t that he was necessarily angry at Rie, just confused. Confused as to why she wanted to spend time with him, of all people, instead of the dozens of other guys Ryo had seen flock to her. What the hell was so special about him that made someone like Rie want to be around someone like Ryo.

 

“What the hell do you want from me?” He shouts out of the blue, completely cutting off whatever Rie was just talking about. The blonde stares at him on confusion for a moment.

 

“What?” She asks, confused.

 

“What. Do. You. Want. From. Me?” Ryo repeats, enunciating every word as though it would somehow clarify what he meant. Based on Rie’s now annoyed expression, it clearly failed at doing such.

 

“Ryo what the fuck are you talking about?” 

 

“I’m talking about  **this** ” he says, gesturing vaguely between them. Rie stares at him with a deadpan expression.

 

“This?” She questions.

 

“Yes, this- this…  **thing** you have that makes you want to spent time with me. Why? Why me? What the hell do you want from me?” Ryo demanded. Rie looks him dead in the eye for a moment before her trademark smirk makes its way onto her face and Ryo has to resist the urge to smack it right off.

 

“Well, I believe this  **thing** , you are referring to is called ‘friendship’, Ryo” she says. “As in, I’m trying to befriend you.”

 

Ryo huffs a frustrated sigh.

 

“Ok, sure but… why?” Once again Rie smiles and chuckles, taking a step closer to him, an act that catches the raven-haired man off guard, causing him to stiffen and stare at the shorter woman with a bemused expression.

 

“Because I like you, that’s why” Rie says sweetly. 

 

“I mean, what’s there not to like. You’re strong, witty, you don’t get offended easily when I tease you, you’re a professional boxer, and overall I just think you’re a really interesting guy. I know it sounds kind of dumb but… I want to be your friend. That’s all.” Ryo stares in mild shock as he processes everything she just told him. 

 

One side of Ryo was highly suspicious of Rie. Why on earth would she want to be friends with him? Sure they had known each other for a little while now and got along fairly well when Ryo wasn’t being petty or uncooperative, but it still didn’t make any sense. What could she possibly gain from having him as a friend?

 

The other side of Ryo couldn’t help but notice how genuine Rie looked during her confession. As much as Ryo wanted to be suspicious and keep his distance like he did with everyone else, a small voice in the back of his head told him that Rie wasn’t like other people, and urged him to give the blonde a chance. After all, the only thing Rie had ever really asked of him throughout the numerous times they’ve spent time together was companionship and conversation. 

 

Now that he thought about it, didn’t Rie mention at one point that she had only moved to Japan from out of country about a year ago. Maybe she didn’t have as many friends as Ryo thought she did. Maybe, in some strange way, the two of them were more alike than Ryo initially thought; both of them lonely and just trying to find someone they can trust and confide in. It didn’t seem very likely, but maybe… 

 

“Hello! Earth to Mashiba Ryo.” The sound of Rie’s, mildly annoyed, voice pulled Ryo back from his thoughts.

 

“So, what do you say? Friends?” Rie asks hopefully, sticking her hand out to the taller man. Ryo stares at the outstretched hand hesitantly for a moment before finally reaching out and taking it in his own grasp.

 

“Ya, sure. Friends” Ryo grunts, causing Rie’s smile to spread from ear to ear as the two now-friends shake hands. Ryo seems to miss the sentiment surrounding the momentous occasion in his attempt not to think about how soft or smooth Rie’s skin feels against his own. Rie’s grip on his hand is surprisingly strong for someone with such small hands, especially since Ryo’s hand practically engulfs the smaller woman’s her own. 

 

After what feels like an eternity, Rie finally lets go of Ryo’s hand and continues down the street, clearly in a much better mood than she was before, if the content smile on her face was anything to go off of. For as long as the two had known each other, Ryo still could not figure out why he indulged in this crazy woman’s antics as much as he did. If this were literally any other person he would have ditched them a long time ago. Then again, hanging around Rie wasn’t the absolute worst way to spend his time, even if she did confuse the absolute hell out of him.

 

The two parted ways just outside of Ryo’s place of employment, just like they did everyday they walked together. Rie mentioned something about meeting up over the weekend if he wasn’t doing anything as she hurried off down the road to get to her own job, but the thought quickly left his mind as his boss Mr. Tanaka waved him over just as he was about to head inside the building to get changed.

 

“Morning Mashiba, how’re you doing today?” Mr. Tanaka greets cheerfully as Ryo trudges on over to him.

 

“Is there something you wanted from me?” Ryo asks, getting straight to the point. Mr. Tanaka sighs in mild frustration, but makes no comment on Ryo’s rude introduction.

 

“I was wondering if you were going to be able to make it to the summer solstice event coming up in a couple of weeks. The company wants a list of attendants so that they can prepare the correct number of seats and order enough food.” Ryo blinks in confusion, having absolutely no idea what the hell his boss was talking about.

 

“The summer what?”

 

“The summer solstice event, come on Mashiba we talked about this in a meeting over a month ago” Mr. Tanaka chastises. Ryo wracks his brain for a moment, trying to remember even the smallest piece of information from the meeting he totally, absolutely, 100% paid attention to and did not zone out of after the first 12 seconds.

 

“Oh” Ryo grimaces as he finally remembers. The summer solstice event was this big party that the company put on every summer, where people would dress up all fancy and go hang around some random hotel ballroom eating shitty rich people food and drinking even shittier rich people alcohol. Those types of events were definitely not Ryo’s style and he thought he had made it very clear that he would not be attending. It would appear that the message had not been received well.

 

“I appreciate the offer, sir, but I think I’m going to take a hard pass on this one” Ryo says, turning on his heel and beginning to walk back toward the building entrance.

 

“Oh come on, it’ll be fun, there’ll be food and drinks and music and- hey you could even bring your girlfriend if you wanted to.” Ryo stopped dead in his tracks, his body frozen in place but his mind running a mile a minute as it attempts to process the words that just exited his boss’ mouth. Ryo slowly turns to look back at Mr. Tanaka, who remains oblivious to the effect his words seem to have on his employee.

 

“My  **what** ?” Ryo asks, with an expression of mild shock and horror.

 

“Your girlfriend. The pretty blonde woman I see-”

 

“SHE’S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND” Ryo yells defensively, in a manner not too unlike how a middle schooler might deny they have a crush on someone in their class when their parent points it out. Mr. Tanaka stares at Ryo with a shocked and mildly confused expression for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter. Ryo scowls and grinds his teeth in annoyance as his face turns a lovely shade of tomato red, embarrassed by his own outburst.

 

“Oh goodness, I’m sorry” the older man apologizes between bought of laughter. “It’s just that I’ve seen you two walking together for a while now so I just assumed that you must be together.”

 

“Ya well, you’re wrong.”

 

“Apparently so, but regardless of your relationship status with her, she’s still welcome to come if you want to bring her as a ‘plus one’. She seems to be a very nice girl. I certainly wouldn’t mind meeting her.” Ryo looks at his boss in confusion, unsure if there was some kind of meaning behind his words, but he quickly shoves the thought away as he once again turns around and heads toward the front door.

 

“I’ll think about it” Ryo replies as he enters the building to get ready for work, scowling to himself as he notices the victorious smirk planted on his boss’ face out of the corner of his eye. 

 

‘Great. Now he’s  **expecting** me to ask her to come. I gotta stop giving in to people all the time’ Ryo lament to himself as he readies for the day ahead. 

 

‘And what the hell was he saying about Rie being my girlfriend? Ya right, as if that would ever work out. It’s hard enough dealing with her just as a ‘friend’, no need to make things harder for myself by dating her.’

 

Pushing his thoughts regarding the summer solstice, Rie, and his boss away, Ryo grabs the keys to his truck and heads out to the parking lot to begin his deliveries. He’d come up with some way to ask Rie to the company event later… hopefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this one. I’m really enjoying writing the interactions between Ryo and Rie, I think these two are just so much fun. We have Ryo who, for all intents and purposes, is an emotionally constipated idiot who does not know how to deal with his emotions or the weird feelings that Rie gives him, and Rie is just such a badass she literally does not give a flying fuck about how rude or crude Ryo is, she just goes with the flow and wants to be friends with this weird idiot. Make sure to let me know what you think of my story so far in the comments bellow, thanks so much for reading and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 6. Bye!


	6. ‘Plus One’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who’s back! Back again!

Almost an entire week had passed since Mr. Tanaka had, more-or-less, voluntold Ryo to ask Rie to come to the summer solstice event his company was hosting, and yet the raven haired man had, not only, not done the singular task his boss had given to him, but he also hadn’t the slightest idea as to  **how** he was going to ask Rie to be his ‘plus one’. Hell, with only a little over a week before the event even took place, he wasn’t even sure if Rie was going to be available to come with him. Needless to say Ryo was caught between a rock and a hard place when it came to how he was going to approach this little ‘problem’, and the current situation he was in certainly wasn’t helping any.

 

“Remind me again why you’re bringing the mutt with you to work” Ryo asks, keeping his distance from Rie, or more accurately her dog Koda, who was trotting happily beside the blonde, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth.

 

“His name is Koda, and if you have any intention of holding on to those kneecaps of yours, I suggest you start referring to him as such” Rie snaps, casting an annoyed glare at Ryo, who merely huffs and avoids her gaze.

 

“And if you must know, today is ‘bring your pet to work day’ at my studio. Everybody else is going to be bringing in their pets, so I figured ‘why not bring in Koda?’” Rie explains.

 

“Right. And do your coworkers know that you’re bringing an 80Lb canine with you, or did you conveniently exit the conversation as they talked about their kittens and hamsters.” Ryo smirks as he expertly dodges the kick Rie sent his way.

 

“Nice try, but you missed- OW FUCK” Ryo curses loudly as the foot that was meant for his shin redirects and smashes down painfully on his left foot. In a moment of pure ‘fight-or-flight’ response, Ryo’s left arm shoots out to defend himself, but before it can make painful and bruising contact with the side of Rie’s head, she manages to duck out of the way, taking a few cautious steps back.

 

A long moment of silence passes over the two adults as it finally sinks in that Ryo had almost punched Rie square in the face. Sure she was the one to step on his foot first but, the damage she did to him would have been negligible, considering that Rie was 5’ 2” on a good day and 100Lb sopping wet, meanwhile Ryo was solid 5’ 10” tall, weighed a substantial 35Lb more than she did, and was a professional boxer on top of all that. Needless to say, even if not at full strength, a punch from Ryo would have left a pretty significant mark if it had actually made contact.

 

“I, um… I… uh” Ryo stumbled, unsure of how to come back from nearly socking Rie in the face. Should he apologize? Ryo didn’t mean to lash out at her but it didn’t negate the fact that he did. The blonde looks at him warily for a moment before her expression shifts back to her signature smirk, catching Ryo off guard.

 

“Nice try but… you missed” Rie chuckles, turning around and continuing to walk down the street as though nothing had happened. Ryo stands rooted to the sidewalk, his mouth hanging open wide enough to catch flies as his brain attempted, but ultimately failed, to make sense of anything that just happened in the last five minutes. Strangely enough, Ryo feels like he’s been doing that a lot lately.

 

“Ryo! Hurry up or we’re both going to be late for work” Rie calls over her shoulder from a little ways down the street. Ryo shuts his mouth, his expression immediately changing back to his usual ‘displease scowl’ as he shoves his hands in his pockets and walks to catch up with Rie. 

 

The conversation falls into somewhat of a comfortable silence for the remaining duration of their walk. Ryo casts the shorter blonde woman a glance out of the corner of his eye, shocked by how little she had been affected by their previous encounter. Did she dodge because she expected him to lash out at her or was it just a stroke of good luck on her part? Her cocky attitude afterwards made him lean toward the former option, but he wasn’t completely ruling out the latter either.

 

The two friends eventually arrive outside of Ryo’s work, and like everyday they walk together, Rie bids Ryo a goodbye and begins walking ahead toward her own work. Out of the corner of his eye, Ryo can see his boss talking with someone. The older man doesn’t appear to have spotted him yet, but that likely wouldn’t remain the case for very long, and as much as Ryo would like to avoid talking with his boss, he knew the old fart would just track him down later on in the day, asking if he had invited Rie to the solstice event yet. The raven haired man grimaces to himself, knowing that Mr. Tanaka will not leave him alone until Ryo finally asks her to come, so he might as well just get it out of the way now.

 

“Hey” Ryo calls after the blonde, catching her attention.

 

“What’s up?” She asks, curiously. Ryo remains silent for a moment, unsure of what to say now that he has Rie’s attention. Should he still ask her? He supposed it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if she said no. He could use it as an excuse not to go to that stupid event. But what if she said yes? Obviously he couldn’t ask her to come if he himself had no intentions of going, but Mr. Tanaka wouldn’t quick bugging him unless he at least asked. 

 

‘ _ Goddammit why does everything have to be so fucking complicated? _ ’ Ryo wonders to himself, sighing heavily. ‘Oh well. I’ll be better off in the long run if I get this over with now, so… here goes nothing I guess.’

 

“So, uuuuuh…” Ryo stammers awkwardly kicking the toe of his shoe against the ground and avoiding eye contact with the blonde as much as possible. Rie chuckles lightly to herself, causing Ryo to scowl in embarrassment.

 

‘ _ Great job Ryo, not even two words in and you already sound like a fucking moron _ ’ Ryo admonishes himself. Clearing his throat Ryo attempts to get a handle on the sudden wave of nervousness that seems to have tied his tongue into a goddamn knot.

 

“Uh, I was wondering if you were, um… doing anything... next weekend?” Rie seems surprised by the question, her expression shifting from confused to shocked. Ryo is unable to tell whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

 

“Well, I don’t think so,” Rie begins. “Why do you ask?”

 

“Um, ok so my work is hosting this… thing, next weekend. It’s like a dance, I guess you could call it, there’ll be food and drinks and people… my boss wants me to come and he told me to bring someone with me as a ‘plus one’, and so, I guess I was just wondering if, uh… maybe, you’d be willing to… come… with me…?” Ryo has to resist the urge to facepalm over how fucking awkward he sounded. From the way he stuttered and stammered you’d think he was trying to confess his feelings to his middle school crush. Thankfully, Rie didn’t seem to mind how painfully ineloquent Ryo is, as a large smile spreads across her face.

 

“Well why didn’t you say something sooner? Of course I’ll go with you Ryo.”

 

There it is again. That stupidly bright smile and that stupidly chipper attitude that, on any other person it would have pissed Ryo right the fuck off, but on Rie it was always genuine and good-natured and it made this funny feeling that he’d rather not dwell upon form in his chest. Ryo clears his throat and directs his gaze back to Rie, who’s still looking at him with that stupid grin on her face.

 

“Alright then, uh… I guess I’ll let you know the details when I talk to my boss” Ryo stammers, wanting nothing more for this conversation to be over.

 

“Sure thing. Just let me know when it is and what I should wear and I’ll be ready.”

 

“Ya sure. See you later, I guess.”

 

“See you around, Ryo! Come on Koda let’s go.” And with that Rie turns on her heel and Ryo watches as she and Koda disappear into the distance. By the time Ryo finally heads inside to start his day, Mr. Tanaka has finished speaking with whoever it was he was talking to earlier, and his face lights up as he sees the taller male walking toward the delivery trucks.

 

“Ah Mashiba, just the man I was hoping to talk to” Mr. Tanaka greets cheerfully. Ryo groans.

 

“What is it, sir?” The question is rhetorical, as Ryo knows exactly what his boss wants to ask him, but the last thing he needs right now is a lecture on the importance of showing respect to those in a higher status than you.

 

“I was wondering if you’d managed to ask your girlfrie- pardon me, your ‘friend’ about coming to the Solstice party next week. I’m finalizing the list of guests later today so I really need to know whether or not you two will be coming or not.” Ryo grinds his teeth in annoyance at the mention of the word ‘girlfriend’. Ever since Mr. Tanaka found out about Rie, he’s been absolutely convinced that she’s Ryo’s secret lover or something stupid like that, and no amount of explanation or denial seems to be able to change his mind. Taking a deep breath, Ryo attempts to calm his rising blood pressure before speaking.

 

“Ya, she said she’d come.” Mr. Tanaka seems surprised by the answer, but his shock quickly turns to joy as a smiles spreads across the older man’s face.

 

“Really? Well that’s great news! In that case I’ll go ahead and add both of your names to the list then. Does she know when and where the party’s being held, or will the both of you be coming together?”

 

“I told her when it was but I didn’t mention where, and I’m still not sure how we’re getting there just yet. She does want to know what she should wear though?” Mr. Tanaka pauses to think for a moment.

 

“Well, it is a formal event, so a nice dress and some heels would be ideal, but there isn’t a dress code or anything like that, so whatever she has already should be fine. And for guys it’s much the same, just a suit, tie, and some nice shoes and you’ll be good to go.”

 

“Alright. Thanks!” Ryo nods, turning to head toward the delivery trucks.

 

“Ya no problem. Let me know if you have any more questions, and make sure to tell your ‘friend’ that we’re all very excited to meet her.” Mr. Tanaka’s laugh echoes throughout the compound as Ryo increases his pace from a slow walk to a brisk run, as he desperately tries to get away from his boss with what little of his dignity he has left.

 

Hopefully after Mr. Tanaka met Rie and learned just how annoying she really was, this whole ‘girlfriend’ thing would blow over and everyone would go back to leaving him the hell alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy writers block is the FUCKING WORST to deal with because I want to write and update a lot more often but there are literally times where I physically cannot write. Like I know the general plot of the story and I more or less know where I want it to go, but when it comes down to writing the filler text and the dialogue and all the in between shit that I have to put down before I get to the “BIG EVENT” that I have planned in my head, then that’s where things start to get complicated. However, I am 100% dedicated to seeing this story through till the end and give Ryo the happy ending he deserves even if it’s the LAST THING I DO ON THIS GOD FORSAKEN MORTAL PLANE! Anyways thank you all so much for reading and as always I will see you all soon for chapter 7. Bye!


	7. Printer Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

5 days.

 

It had been 5 whole days since Ryo had last seen or spoken to Rie, and while the raven haired man would usually rejoice at the reprieve Rie’s absence allowed him, the fact that the Summer Solstice Party was tomorrow and Ryo still had absolutely no idea when he was picking Rie up or how they were even going to get there was starting to stress him out.

 

Had something happened to her? Was there some kind of emergency that came up last minute? Had she decided that she didn’t want to go with Ryo after all? Was it something he said? Had he offended her in some way? Was this Middle School Homecoming all over again?  **Did she hate him?**

 

Needless to say that the stress of not knowing what was going on was beginning to eat away at Ryo to the point where he was half tempted to just show up at her apartment and bug her until he got an answer. Well… ok, maybe he wasn’t willing to go quite that far, but if there was one place Ryo knew she was going to be it would be at her place, so taking a stroll over after practice just to make sure she wasn’t ditching him wasn’t the worst idea in the whole world.

 

Pushing those thoughts aside, Ryo grabbed the packages he needed before stepping out the back of the delivery truck and heading inside the large double doors of the news station he was delivering to. Normally he’d just leave the packages at the front desk and call it a day, but unfortunately for him the people who were waiting for this order had requested that the packages be brought up to the 7th floor immediately upon arrival. 

 

When the doors to the elevator finally open, Ryo is met with the sight of another young woman sitting behind a receptionist desk. The woman looks up at him as he approaches.

 

“Hello sir, is there something I can help you with?” The woman greets cheerfully.

 

“Ya, I’m here to drop off these packages, the lady downstairs said to bring them up here.” Ryo responds dryly. The woman takes a look at the package label for a moment.

 

“Ah yes, I was told we would be getting these in soon. Come right this way.” Begrudgingly, Ryo does as he’s told, lifting the boxes back up and following the young woman down the hall and into what appears to be some sort of printer room. 

 

“Go ahead and put the boxes down on that back counter and I’ll go get someone to sign for them” the woman instructs, before turning and disappearing down the hall. Ryo rolls his eyes in annoyance but enters the room anyways, taking in his surroundings.

 

The first thing the raven haired man noticed is another woman wearing a blue skirt suit bent over one of the four large printers, muttering angrily to herself as she pokes and prods the interior hardware of the machine. The woman working on the printer is short, has fair skin, and bob-cut blonde hair styled in a way that greatly resembled… wait.

 

“RIE” Ryo shouts upon realizing that the blonde woman bent over the printer was in fact Rie. The blonde in question jumps, banging her head against the open hood of the printer before her gaze snaps toward Ryo, her expression not too unlike a deer caught in the headlights.

 

“Oh my god” Rie breathes, allowing herself to slump against the side of the printer once she realizes who it is.

 

“Where the hell have you been?” Ryo snaps, stomping toward the shorter woman.

 

“Ryo, you scared the fucking shit out of me. Where did you come from? What are you doing here?” The blonde questions.

 

“I’m delivering packages. Now answer my question: where the hell have you been? I haven’t seen you all week.” Blowing a strand of hair out of her face Rie turns back to the printer.

 

“I know i know, I’m sorry. We’ve been having a lot of printer trouble lately so I’ve been coming in early all week to try and fix it before publication next week.”

 

“Well you could have at least told me that.”

 

“Well I gave you my phone number, so if you really wanted to know what was going on you could have just called.” Ryo grimaces to himself, knowing that the only reason why he didn’t just call Rie despite having her number was so that Kumi wouldn’t start asking questions, knowing that she’d be just as bad as Mr. Tanaka if she ever found out. So far, Ryo’s done a pretty good job of keeping his friendship with Rie a secret from his little sister, and Ryo plans on keeping things that way for as long as humanly possible.

 

“Whatever” Ryo mutters under his breath, his mood soured by petty annoyance. Rie rolls her eyes and groans in frustration at Ryo’s childishness

 

“Look Ryo, I’m sorry I’ve kept you in the dark the past few days. But I’ve been working my ass off trying to fix this stupid fucking printer, and you standing there bitching like a little baby, isn’t helping me in the slightest.”

 

“Well if it’s been a whole week and the damn thing still isn’t working then that begs the question of whether or not you’re actually doing anything” Ryo snaps, immediately regretting his loss of temper when Rie turns and shoots him a nasty glare, clearly displeased with his choice of words and growing increasingly more frustrated with Ryo the more he spoke.

 

“LISTEN ASSHOLE, I know this might seem pretty trivial to you, but for me and everyone else in this department it’s a serious issue, and the reason why it’s such a serious issue is because if I can’t get these printers up and running by 5 pm tonight, I DON’T GET PAID NEXT WEEK SO-” 

 

“Alright alright I get it, this is a big problem, my fucking bad” Ryo interjects harshly, putting his hands up defensively. Rie glares at him again but makes no further attempts to yell at him.

 

“Whatever. Just drop your stupid packages and piss off” Rie hisses, turning her attention back to the printer. Ryo flinches slightly at her menacing tone and a small pang of guilt begins to spread throughout his chest over having upset her so much. He wasn’t even entirely sure why he was so upset about his sudden lack of contact with Rie, after all, he knew better than anybody how important it was to meet work deadlines and expectations, especially in situations where one’s job might be on the line. As much as he hated to admit it, he was the one in the wrong, so it was only fair that he at least tried to clean up the mess he caused.

 

“Move over” Ryo instructs, taking a step toward the broken printer. Rie shoots him another glare but this time her expression carries more confusion rather than anger.

 

“Why?” The blonde asks.

 

“Because I’m about to fix your stupid fucking printer that’s why” Ryo responds, gently nudging Rie out of the way so he can get a better look at the inside.

 

“Doesn’t look like it’s jammed or anything. What kind of problems have you been having with it?” Ryo asks after taking a moment to inspect the printer.

 

“Well, because we do a lot of bulk printing, the older these machines get the easier they tend to overheat, which is an inconvenience but given enough time to cool down they’ll continue running just fine. But lately we’ve started having issues where we’ll go to print and everything will run just fine but for some reason the products come up completely blank on the other end. I’ve done just about everything to try and figure out why this is happening but I can’t figure it out and tech support has been absolutely no help whatsoever” Rie explains. Ryo hums in understanding, continuing to fiddle around with the printer.

 

“Did you check the ink levels?”

 

“Filled them myself on Monday.”

 

“Does the ink dispenser need new parts?”

 

“We replaced the entire thing less than 3 months ago.”

 

“What about the print settings?” 

 

“The same ones we always use.”

 

“A self-diagnostic check?”

 

“Did that twice. Came back saying there wasn’t anything wrong both times.”

 

“How about a self-cleaning?”

 

“Ye- wait a what now?”

 

“A self-cleaning. It basically resets the printer’s software and cleans out all the dust and shit that collecting along the interior hardware. My Dad would use it on the printer he had at work and it always fixed whatever was wrong with it” Ryo explains. Rie nods in understanding.

 

“Ok, so how do I do a self-cleaning?”

 

“Should be in the same settings as the self-diagnostic.”

 

“Well that’s on my computer, so follow me.” Ryo follows the blonde out into the main area and down a row of cubicles toward her desk. Several people give the pair strange looks as they pass by, likely wondering what their coworker is doing talking to the delivery man, but the two pay them no mind as they arrive at Rie’s cubicle. 

 

“Alright, how do I do this?” Rie asks as she sits down at her computer and brings up the printer program. Ryo leans over her shoulder, scanning the screen for what he was looking for.

 

“See that icon there?”

 

“Ya.”

 

“Click that.”

 

“Ok.”

 

“Now scroll down to diagnostics.”

 

“Alright.”

 

“Click management.”

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“And there is it. Self-clean printer. Right at the bottom.” Rie clicks the button as instructed.

 

“Alright, cool… now what?”

 

“Now we go see if that did anything” Ryo responds, heading back toward the printer room. It takes a few minutes for the self-cleaning to end, but after a few minutes of making noise the machine finally goes quiet, signaling that it is ready to print.

 

“You got something we can use to test if it works?” Ryo asks. Rie nods and trots out of the room to her desk. The printer whirs to life just as the blonde comes running back into the room. A few seconds later the printer spits out a large poster-sized piece of paper, which Rie approaches and picks up, holding it at arms length to inspect the quality. 

 

“I can’t believe it” Rie says after a moment of tense silence. Ryo raises an eyebrow at her.

 

“What is it? Did it work?” Another moment of silence passes, and just as Ryo is about to ask what the hell was going on, Rie suddenly bursts into a fit of laughter and cheering, jumping up and down excitedly. The raven haired man stares at Rie, totally clueless as to what was going on.

 

“You did it, you did it, it can’t believe it but you did it, LOOK” Rie shoves the poster into Ryo’s face, barely giving the man enough time to even look at it before she starts running around the room in a fit of excitement. Ryo rolls his eyes and turns towards the door.

 

“Right, well, as fun as this has been and all, I have more work to do so I’ll just be on my way.” Before Ryo can so much as take a step toward the door, Rie runs up to him, grabs him by the collar, and pulls him down, planting a kiss right on his cheek before grabbing the poster and running out of the room.

 

“Thank you Ryo, you’re the best, I owe you one, see you tomorrow night. KAYA LOOK THE PRINTER’S FIXED!” 

 

A deep and empty silence falls over the printer room once Rie exits, leaving behind a completely dumbstruck Ryo to try and figure out what the actual fuck just happened. One minute he was watching Rie run and jump around the room like a hyperactive toddler who’d just discovered sugar, and the next his entire world was brought to a screeching halt by the shocking realization that  **Rie had kissed him** . 

 

Unfortunately Ryo had very little time to process how the events of the past 20 minutes had lead him to this exact point, as the receptionist from earlier finally returned, accompanied by an older man.

 

“Ah, you must be the delivery boy. I apologize for the long wait but I was in the middle of a meeting and-“

 

“SIGN THIS.” Ryo interjected, cutting the older man off by shoving a click board and pen into his hands.

 

A myriad of emotions swirled around in Ryo’s chest as he burst out the front doors of the news station and got into the driver’s seat of his delivery truck, slamming the door behind him. With trembling hands, Ryo jammed the keys into the ignition and turned the engine on before shifting the gear into drive. Ryo pauses for a moment and shifts his gaze back up to the 7th floor, where Rie was probably still running around like a maniac telling anyone who’d listen that the printer was fixed. The spot where her lips had pressed against his cheek still tingled slightly, as though his body was trying to hold on to the feeling for as long as physically possible. 

 

Grinding his teeth together in frustration, Ryo tears his gaze from the building and grips the steering wheel until his knuckles turn pale. Easing his foot off the break, Ryo continues on down the road, pushing any and all thoughts of Rie and that stupid kiss to the back of his mind, and instead focusing on the rest of the deliveries he had to make before he could finally clock out for the day and go home. 

 

Ryo would deny ever once wondering what her lips would feel like pressed against his own, rather than just his cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly have no idea where this chapter came from or how it contributes to the overall plot, but honestly I kind of like it so I’m keeping it. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, make sure to leave a comment down below letting me know what you thought about. Thanks again for reading my fic and as always I will see you all soon for chapter 8. Bye!


	8. Fancy Dress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

“Dammit Kumi I know how to tie my own damn tie” Ryo snaps as his sister attempts to ‘help’ him get ready for the Summer Solstice Party he has to leave for in about 10 minutes.

 

“Oh stop it, I can do it better than you can and you know it” Kumi retorts, smoothing out the material of his jacket before taking a step back to look at him. Ryo stands awkwardly in their living room, feeling very uncomfortable and out of place in the cheaply made suit Kumi had bought for him the year before.

 

“I feel like an overstuffed sausage” Ryo mutters, pulling at his collar.

 

“Oh no, don’t you dare start complaining about that suit now, not after you refused to go out and buy a better fitting one because you were convinced that the one you already had would work fine despite how much you’ve grown since you got it” Kumi chastised. Ryo rolled his eyes in response.

 

“Ryo are you sure you’re alright going to the party by yourself? I can go get changed if you want me to come” Kumi said with a worried look across her face.

 

“Kumi I told you I’d be fine. Besides, don’t you have an exam to study for?” Ryo asks as he fiddles with the buttons of his suit jacket.

 

“Well, ya, but that doesn’t mean I can’t-“

 

“Kumi your grades are more important that some stupid party, trust me you’ll be glad you didn’t go.” Ryo interjects, grabbing his keys and wallet and shoving them into his pocket. Kumi looks like she wants to say something else but refrains from doing so.

 

“Well alright then. Just promise me that you’ll at least try to talk to people while your there, ok?” Ryo sighs but nods anyways.

 

“Ya, I’ll try. See you later Kumi.” And with that Ryo closes the door behind him and heads out into the night. 

 

The walk to Rie’s apartment isn’t any different than it usually is, but Ryo’s mind is currently occupied with the events of the previous day. Logically speaking, Ryo knew that the kiss wasn’t anything serious and likely didn’t carry any deeper meaning behind it, but for some reason he just couldn’t get it out of his head and it was starting to really annoy him. But what annoyed him most of all was the question of why Rie did it in the first place? Surely she knew that Japanese people were a bit more… hesitant when it came to showing physical forms of gratitude or affection, and would know better than to do something like that in public. Then again maybe she didn’t, after all she was technically a foreigner, who’d only lived in Japan for a little over a year, and if Rie was aware of the culture significance kissing someone in public had then perhaps she wouldn’t have done it. Of course there was always the possibility that Rie did know the significance kissing someone carried, and did it intentionally because she wanted to express something to him that she didn’t have the words for or…

 

Ryo groaned and shook his head, clearing his thoughts as best he could as he stepped into the elevator. A few short moments later, Ryo stood in front of the dark wooden door of Rie’s apartment, contemplating whether he should knock, or wait a minute, just in case Rie wasn’t finished getting ready yet. From the outside, Ryo could hear the faint sound of talking followed by a loud bark. Taking a deep breath and smoothing out the fabric of his suit jacket, Ryo raised his fist and pounded it three times against the door.

 

A moment of silence passes as Ryo waits for the door to open, suddenly feeling very nervous about the situation he had landed himself in. The lock clicks and the door swings open, and as Rie steps out from behind the door Ryo’s eyes widen and his jaw falls open slightly at how… amazing she looked. Her hair, her makeup, her clothes, her shoes, it was all so simple and yet she looked absolutely stunning and despite how idiotic he probably looked Ryo couldn’t bring himself to look away.

 

“Hey you” Rie greets with a smile. Ryo stiffens and averts his gaze, now unsure of where to look.

 

“Uh… hi” he responds. The blonde’s gaze falls down to his suit and for a moment Ryo really regrets not buying a better fitting suit as Rie survey’s his appearance from top to bottom.

 

“Well don’t you look handsome” Rie comments, catching Ryo off guard.

 

“I don’t know, do I?” Ryo asks dumbly, to no one in particular, as he glances down at the tacky suit he was forced to wear. Rie chuckles.

 

“I think you do. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a suit before” she says, reaching a hand out and running the fabric between her fingers and readjusting certain areas. Ryo stiffens, unsure of what was happening.

 

“Hmm… a little tight along the shoulders and hips, and maybe a smidge too short on the length of the arms, but you’re so tall and in such good shape that it looks fine even with the little issues. It actually looks really good on you” Rie states, taking a step back and smiling up at him. Ryo remains silent, unsure of what to say after all that.

 

“Um, thanks. You look… fine, I guess.” Ryo groans internally at his painful lack of eloquence, but thankfully Rie doesn’t seem to take offense to his statement, chuckling before stepping out into the hallway, closing and locking the door behind her, and walking toward the elevator.

 

They agree to take Rie’s car to the event, but Ryo ends up driving since he’s the only one who knows where the party’s even being held. The pair arrive at the hotel a few minutes before 8 pm and Ryo hands the keys over to the valet as they walk through the large double doors. Upon entering the ballroom, Ryo can already make out a few of his coworkers with their dates, talking amongst themselves.

 

“Mashiba!” Ryo groans in frustration as his boss rushes across the room to meet him.

 

“There you are. I was wondering when you were going to show up.” 

 

“Ya well… here I am” Ryo says awkwardly, unsure of how to respond. His boss does a double take when he notices Rie standing next to him, and the older man casts Ryo a suggestive smirk, which Ryo makes a point to ignore.

 

“And this must be the lovely Miss Araya I’ve heard so much about. It’s so nice to finally meet you, we’ve heard so much about you from Mashiba, so it’s nice to finally put a face to all the things we’ve heard” Mr. Tanaka says politely, taking Rie’s hand in a gentle handshake.

 

“Only good things I hope” Rie responds with a kind smile. A grand total of 10 seconds had passed since the pair had walked into the ballroom, and yet Ryo was more than ready to turn around and head home. Unfortunately, having brought Rie with him, as opposed to coming by himself, means that he can’t just up and leave whenever he feels like it, and knowing Rie, she probably won’t want to leave until the damn things over. Needless to say that Ryo was going to be in for a long and exhausting night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I have no explanations about where any of these chapters came from but I’m having a blast over hear writing self-indulgent garbage, so I’m just gonna keep doing that. Let me know what you think of this chapter down below, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 9. Bye!


	9. Questions and Realizations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

The first hour or so was the most painful and grueling part, mostly because Rie insisted upon dragging him around the ballroom and having him introduce her to all of his coworkers. Ryo had to suppress the urge to scowl in annoyance, as his coworkers all gawked at the blonde with expressions of disbelief and shock, most of them likely not believing that a) Ryo had a friend, b) Ryo would be bringing that friend to the work party, and c) said friend of his was an attractive young woman who was the dictionary definition of his opposite.

 

Ryo wasn’t entirely sure why, but for some reason the fact that all of his coworkers were staring at Rie, as though she were a piece of meat on a stake, was beginning to seriously piss him off. The blonde didn’t seem to notice the hungry gazes that were pointed toward her, or maybe she just didn’t care, but regardless of whether Rie noticed or not, Ryo found himself sticking unusually close to her as they meandered their way around the ballroom, sending a menacing glare at any idiot who looked like he’d worked up the guts to try something stupid.

 

At 9 o’clock, a waiter called for everyone’s attention, and informed them that it was time for dinner. The dining hall was even larger and more spacious than the ballroom they had just been in, and two, long tables with seats on either side stood centered in the room. Every seat had a plate, a cloth napkin, some utensils, a wine glass, and a beautifully designed seating card with each person’s name on it, decorated the tables. Ryo and Rie had been conveniently placed directly next to one another, which would have been fine if it was just the two of them, like it normally was, but in this situation, it felt a great deal more awkward than usual. The fact that everyone seemed to be questioning whether or not Rie was his girlfriend was not helping the matter.

 

“Miss Araya, I hope you don’t mind me asking this but, how on earth did you and Mashiba become acquainted?” One of Ryo’s coworkers, whose name escapes him at the present moment, asks Rie. The blonde looks at him curiously.

 

“You mean how did we meet?”

 

“Yes!” Ryo’s coworker affirms. “We were all just thinking to ourselves that Mashiba isn’t usually the kind of guy who goes out of his way to make friends. And you mentioned how you were a graphic designer who only moved to Japan last year. With how different the two of you are, it’s just kind of a little funny how someone as nice and intelligent as you became friends with someone like him.” Everyone around bursts out laughing, clearly in agreement with their coworker’s statement. Ryo remains silent and ignores the indirect insult, casting a glance at Rie out of the corner of his eye. Much to his surprise, the blonde looks less than pleased with his coworker’s previous statement, her eyes are narrowed and her lips are pressed firmly together, nearing a scowl. Taking a deep breath, Rie puts on, what can only be described as, a furious grin, as she turns to Ryo’s coworker.

 

“Well, if you must know, Ryo and I met in an alleyway sometime back in March. I was being mugged by a couple of thugs who tried to take my purse and then pulled a knife on me when I tried to defend myself. Mashiba just so happened to enter the alleyway as I was being chased. Long story short, Ryo dealt with those thugs like it was nothing, and saved me from what might have been my untimely death.” The whole table was silent, staring in utter disbelief as Rie retold the events of their initial meeting. A few of the detailed had been exaggerated, and Rie had left out the fact that almost 2 months had gone by before they saw each other again, but the truthfulness of the story didn’t really matter at the moment, so Ryo wasn’t going to try and correct her. 

 

“Now I know that most Japanese people aren’t particularly fond of those who don’t follow the status quo and all that, but I’ll have you know that if you had actually bothered to take a moment out of your day to learn even the smallest bit about Ryo, you’d know that he’s a remarkably kind and considerate man with plenty of smarts and wit to go around. But the fact that you are blatantly unaware of all that informs me that you’ve hardly put in the effort to try and get to know him and are thus making those statements based on false pretenses and a disgustingly petty need to spread rumors about people. So unless you want to walk out of here missing your two front teeth, I suggest you choose your next words carefully when speaking about my friend.” Now it was Ryo’s turn to stare at Rie, his eyes wide with shock and his mouth hanging open slightly, unsure if he had heard all that correctly. Had Rie just… defended him? Had Rie really said all of those things, in front of the entire staff and his boss, all because one of his coworkers made some passive-aggressive comment about him?

 

The coworker in question looked like he was about ready to piss himself, and his skin had turned a pale, sickly color, obviously not expecting the harsh response to his “joke”. Ryo couldn’t help but smirk slightly to himself, secretly pleased with Rie’s immediate defendance of him, as well as everyone else’s reaction to the blonde’s sudden outburst. It was nice, knowing that Rie thought so highly of him despite his usual disposition toward her. 

 

Contrary to popular belief, Ryo was more than aware of how much of a jackass he could be at times. While this leant itself quite useful around people he didn’t like or want to be around, it wasn’t so great when he acted that way around people he did like. People like Rie. Unlike most people however, Rie never seemed bothered by his assholerey, and although there were times when his refusal to engage in conversation annoyed the blonde, surprisingly it never seemed to be enough of a problem for Rie to stop hanging out with him. It was incredible, how much of Ryo’s bullshit she was willing to put up with to be his friend. Although Ryo would never admit it out loud, seeing Rie be so quick to jump in and defend him against a silly little taunt made the raven haired man realize just how glad he was to have someone like her as a friend. Sure Rie wasn’t the picture perfect definition of someone Ryo would usually consider a ‘friend’, but beggars can’t be choosers, and if he was going to have to be stuck with a friend for the foreseeable future, Ryo supposes he got pretty lucky that is was Rie who smashed her way into his life, rather than someone else.

 

The rest of the night continues on relatively uneventfully from that point forward. Once dinner finished, all the adults were ushered back into the main ballroom. Shortly after that, music was put on and people began pulling their dates out into the middle of the room to dance. This was the part of the night that Ryo was dreading the most, not only did the raven haired man not know how to dance  **at all** , but everybody in the room would be watching and laughing as he fumbled around the dance floor with the prettiest woman at the damn party. Ryo tried not to think too hard about the thought processes his brain went through that led it to the conclusion that Rie was the prettiest woman here.

 

Luckily, or rather unluckily, for Ryo, almost immediately after the music had begun playing, Rie had been swept away from out of nowhere, by some guy looking for a dance, and every time she finished dancing with one guy, another one swooped in and took over for him. As happy as he was not to be making a fool of himself on the dance floor, Ryo couldn’t help the feelings of anger and jealousy that burned inside his chest, as he was forced to watch his date dance with a bunch of random losers. 

 

Wait… date?

 

Ryo stiffened slightly at the thought. What the hell was he thinking? Rie wasn’t his date, she was his ‘plus one’, which was a completely different thing, and definitely not the same thing as a ‘date’. Dates were people who went out together and did stupid romantic shit, like went to went to coffee shops, or walked places together everyday, or went over to each other’s houses and shit.

 

Then again… he and Rie did stuff like that, didn’t they? Maybe not in the exact same way as other people but, he and Rie have gone out to coffee shops multiple times since their initial meeting, they both walk to work together every morning, so much so that when they don’t, the entire day feels off, and while Rie has never gone to his house before, Ryo has been over at her apartment many times. So based on that logic, did that mean that he and Rie were… dating?

 

Ryo shook his head, immediately destroying the thought where it stood. No, he and Rie were not dating. They might do certain things that people who date usually do, but dating also requires that you have some sort of romantic interest in the other person, and while Ryo wasn’t entirely sure what his exact feelings for Rie were at times, there was absolutely no way in hell that somebody like her would ever go for someone like him.

 

Being friends was one thing, but even Ryo had enough social awareness to know that Rie was way out of his league, and there was no way Ryo was going to get his heart broken,  **again** , over some stupid little crush he may or may not have.

 

It was at this point Rie finally returned from dancing, out of breath and sweating slightly.

 

“Hey you” she huffs, taking a seat next to Ryo.

 

“Having fun?” The raven haired man asks, passive aggressively. Rie doesn’t seem to notice this.

 

“Ya, this is awesome. Thanks so much for inviting me” Rie says with a smile and a giggle. Ryo merely grunts in response, avoiding his gaze. His attention is reclaimed not long after that however, when he notices Rie fumbling with the buckle of her high-heeled shoe, taking it off to reveal a large, bleeding blister.

 

“What the hell happened?” Ryo asks in mild alarm, as Rie sets her shoe on the ground to get a better look at her blister.

 

“Don’t worry about it, this happens all the time.”

 

“What do you mean? You bleed like that every time you put a pair of shoes on?” Rie rolls her eyes.

 

“No, dumbass, I mean this happens whenever I wear shoes like this. Don’t you know anything about women’s fashion?”

 

“Yes.” Ryo did not, in fact, know a single goddamn thing about women’s fashion, but he wasn’t going to let Rie know that.

 

“Well then you’d know that high heeled shoes are some of the most poorly engineered articles of clothing, whose only purpose is to look good, but not actually provide anything in terms of comfort or long-lasting wear.”

 

“Ok… and that means?”

 

“It means I can only wear these shoes for a certain amount of time before  **this** happens” Rie says, motioning toward her bleeding foot while reaching over to grab her purse, pulling out a bandaid, and placing it over the broken skin. She does the same to the other foot, and sighs in relief when she puts her feet down on the ground, the cool tile likely offering some sort of relief.

 

“So” Rie begins after a moment of silence passes. “When can we get out of here?”

 

“You want to leave?” Ryo asks, slightly surprised.

 

“Ryo, I just spent the last 45 minutes dancing with every random John who came up to me, my feet are bleeding, my back is killing me, and I’ve been dying to take this makeup off since I put it on earlier tonight. So yes, I would very much like to leave” Rie replies, her voice laced with exhaustion and annoyance. 

 

“Well the only reason I haven’t left already is because I brought you along.”

 

“You make it sound like us being here is my fault.”

 

“No, I’m not.”

 

“Yes, you are.”

 

“No, I’m not.”

 

“Yes, you are.”

 

“ **No, I’m not.** ”

 

“ **Yes, you are.** ”

 

“Alright fine, whatever, I don’t care. Are we going or not?” Ryo snaps. Rie glares at him for a moment, but does not continue speaking. Ryo merely shrugs his shoulders, getting up from the seat and heading toward the ballroom door, Rie following closely behind him, but not before, reluctantly, putting her heels back on.

 

They bid good night to Mr. Tanaka, who’s sad to see them go so soon, but a great deal more sympathetic once Rie shows him her feet. Mr. Tanaka wishes them both a good evening and sends a knowing smirk Ryo’s way as the two exit the ballroom, which the raven haired man pointedly ignores. The two friends exit the hotel and wait patiently outside while the valet gets Rie’s car. Once the car has been parked out front, they get in, and at long last, leave the stupid Summer Solstice Party, and head off toward home.

 

Once they arrive back at Rie’s apartment, Ryo parks the car in its designated spot and gets out, beginning to head toward Rie’s apartment. He stops however, once he notices that Rie had yet to exit the vehicle herself, and was just sitting there. Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow and heads over to Rie’s side of the car, where the blonde was grimacing down at her shoes.

 

“You good?” Ryo asks, partly out of concern, and partly because he wants to hurry up and go home.

 

“Ya, I’m fine. I think I’m going to take my shoes off and just walk barefoot the rest the way, though” the blonde replies, reaching down and undoing her heel, slipping it off before moving to do the same with the second one. 

 

“You want me to carry you?” Ryo asks, without realizing. Rie looks up at him with an expression of awe and desperation, making Ryo think twice about retracting the offer.

 

“Would you do that for me? You don’t have to if you don’t want to but, my feet might actually fall off if I have to keep walking in these shoes.” Ryo merely shrugs.

 

“Sure, whatever. Doesn’t bother me any.”

 

“Oh my god, thank you” Rie sighs, getting out of the car and shutting the door behind her, before hopping on Ryo’s back, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. While Rie seemed perfectly content in this position, Ryo was currently in the middle of a mild existential crisis, completely clueless as to what he was supposed to do now. Obviously dropping her was something he wanted to avoid, but the only ways Ryo was able to support Rie was by holding her either by her upper thighs or by her backside, neither of which were particularly appropriate, given that Rie was a) a woman, b) not his sister, and, most importantly, c)  **not his girlfriend** . 

 

Ultimately, Ryo settled on clasping his hands behind him, which allowed him to keep Rie from falling, without accidentally copping a feel. Once they were both situation, Ryo locked Rie’s car and began walking back toward the blonde’s apartment. Thankfully, no one was present in the elevator or the hallway leading up to Rie’s apartment, so Ryo was saved the embarrassment of being seen giving Rie a piggyback ride, like the ones he gave Kumi back when they were kids.

 

Ryo gently sets Rie back down once they arrive at her door and the blonde smiles up at him, looking tired, but happy overall.

 

“Thanks for inviting me out tonight. I had a lot of fun.”

 

“Ya, no problem, thanks for coming with me, and… you know” Ryo gestures vaguely between them, as though that were somehow supposed to explain what he meant.

 

“No, I don’t know, actually” Rie giggles. Ryo bites the inside of his cheek, trying to figure out what he wants to say.

 

“All that nice shit you said about me when my coworker made fun of me” he begins. “About me saving you in the alley, and us being good friends, and me being… smart.”

 

“Ya?” Rie questions, slightly confused. 

 

“Well, you didn’t have to. I mean, I know I can be a huge asshole sometimes, so for you to go out of your way to say all that good stuff about me is… it was.. it meant…”

 

A moment of silence passes between the two.

 

“Thanks... is what I’m trying to say” Ryo finally spits out, his face beginning to heat up in embarrassment. Rie laughs.

 

“Ryo, I didn’t say all that stuff to try and impress anybody, I said it because I meant it. That idiot doesn’t know a goddamn thing about you, and for him to badmouth you like that was both inappropriate and uncalled for. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about you it’s that there’s a lot more to you than meets the eye, and anyone who can’t see that has no right to talk like they know you.” Ryo stares at the blonde in shock and awe for what feels like the millionth time that night, as she unlocks the door to her apartment. 

 

How the hell did this woman always know the right thing to say?

 

“Want to come inside?” Rie asks, as the door swings open, snapping Ryo out of his daze.

 

“Uh, no thanks. I’ve got to get home to my sister. I don’t usually stay out this late for shit like this, so she’s probably wondering where I am” Ryo says, dropping his gaze to his shoes.

 

“Well, alright then. You’ll be alright walking home?”

 

“Ya, I’ll be fine. So uh… see you” Ryo says before turning and heading back toward the elevator.

 

“You’re supposed to kiss me.”

 

Ryo stops dead in his tracks as soon as the words leave Rie’s mouth. His eyes go wide, his stomach drops to the floor, and his heart practically stops beating as he turns, with nothing short of a bewildered expression, to look back at Rie, who’s leaning casually against the door frame, a confident grin on her face.

 

“What?” Ryo asks dumbly, his brain spiraling out of control as it attempts to process whatever the hell it just heard.

 

“I said” the blond begins, pushing herself off the door frame and walking over to stand in front of Ryo, “you’re supposed to kiss me.”

 

Rie barely reaches Ryo’s chin when she stands at her normal height, but despite being the taller of the two, Ryo feels uncomfortably small standing in front of her. 

 

What the hell did she mean by that? She wanted Ryo to kiss her? Why the hell would she want that? And why the hell was he  **supposed** to kiss Rie? That wasn’t something that normally happened between friends… right?

 

“Why’s that?” Ryo asks, unsure of what else to say in the present moment. Rie’s grin widens.

 

“Well, I don’t know about what is custom over here in Japan, but where I’m from, after a guy takes a girl out, when the guy is dropping the girl off back at her house, it is customary for the guy to give the girl a kiss” Rie explains, as though it were the most obvious thing in the whole world.

 

“...oh” Ryo says dumbly, still not sure how he’s supposed to respond to any of this. Rie chuckles.

 

“You’ve never kissed anybody before, have you?” The raven haired man immediately stiffens.

 

“Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t, what does it matter?” Ryo snaps defensively. Rie laughs.

 

“It doesn’t, but I can tell just from looking at you that you clearly have no idea what the hell you’re doing.” Ryo frowns. He knows that Rie is technically right, he’s never kissed anyone before and has 0 experience regarding this sort of situation, but that doesn’t mean he likes being called out over it.

 

“And you do?” Ryo asks, unsure if he actually wants to know the answer, but feeling petty enough to ask anyways.

 

“Yes, actually. I do” Rie responds, a cocky smirk on her face. Ryo grinds his teeth together, his shock and confusion slowly turning to annoyance and embarrassment.

 

“Well alright then, if you’re so fucking smart, then why don’t  **you** show me how to do it” Ryo retaliates without thinking. Silence falls over the two adults and, initially, Ryo takes that as a sign of having won their little argument, but he is very quickly proven incorrect however, when Rie moves to wrap her arms around Ryo’s neck, pulling the taller man down, and pressing their lips together. 

 

Honestly, at this point, Ryo shouldn’t even be surprised that this was happening, after all, Rie might have been the one to (playfully?) suggest the whole kissing thing, but Ryo was the one to taunt her about it, because he’s a fucking idiot who doesn’t know when to shut his goddamn mouth. Speaking of mouths, his was currently pressed against Rie’s. Her lips were just as soft and warm as he thought they’d be, because of course they fucking were, why the hell wouldn’t they be, why wouldn’t this whole cluster fuck he’d landed himself in be just another thing that’s inevitably going to keep him awake at night. 

 

The existential crisis he was having earlier was nothing compared to… whatever the fuck it was he was having now. Any and all forms of rational thought flew directly out the window, and all that was left was a whirlwind of emotions bouncing around inside his chest. What does he do? Where does he put his hands? What does he do with his face? How much time has passed? Was the hallway getting hotter, or was it just him?

 

After what felt like an eternity and a half, Rie finally pulls away from a very bewildered and slightly dizzy Ryo, who simply looked at the shorter woman with an expression of confusion. Rie merely smiled at him, her arms still wrapped around his neck, and her fingers combing gently through the black locks of hair on the back of his head.

 

“And that, is how a gentleman bids his fair lady good night” the blonde says, letting go of Ryo and heading back toward her apartment. Rie stops and turns back to the raven haired man, flashing him another one of her award winning smiles.

 

“See you around” she says with a wink, before entering the apartment, and closing the door behind her.

 

Ryo somehow manages to exit Rie’s apartment building and make his way home, despite his mind being trapped under a heavy haze, unable to think completely straight, while his body was hypersensitive to everything around him. He kind of felt the same way he did after a really good boxing match, one that left his mind and body tired but satisfied, except instead of being tired and satisfied, Ryo felt absolutely exhausted, yet strangely enough, hungry and wanting for  **something** more. What that something was however, even Ryo wasn’t entirely sure of. All he knew was that Rie was the cause of it, just like she was the cause of so many of the questionable thoughts and emotions he had been having lately.

 

It was just after midnight when Ryo finally arrived back home. The interior of the small apartment complex was dark, which was unsurprising since Kumi had likely gone to bed hours ago. Despite how tired he felt, Ryo knew he probably wasn’t getting any sleep tonight, but figured that he might as well shower and climb into his pajamas so that when he did finally fall asleep, he didn’t have to worry about it when he woke up.

 

As Ryo enters the small bathroom, the raven haired man takes a moment to look at himself in the mirror, sighing in frustration. Even since he met Rie, Ryo had been doing everything in this power to combat the myriad of strange and unfamiliar emotions he felt when around the blonde. Of course, much like the last time Ryo was in a situation like this, his attempts to deny and ignore his growing affections for Rie have finally backfired on him, except not in the way he expected they would.

 

Although Rie had never directly done anything before to indicate that she was romantically interested in Ryo, after the events of the past few days, first the kiss on the cheek, then complimenting his appearance, then defending him from his stupid coworkers, and then what happened in the hallway, could it all mean something? It all happened so fast but, maybe Ryo hadn’t done as good a job at hiding the effect the blonde had on him as he thought he had. Maybe Rie had caught on to his growing attachment to her, and had, for some strange reason, decided that she felt that way as well. Or maybe…

 

Ryo drops his gaze down to the sink, a scowl forming on his lips.

 

Or maybe Ryo’s just reading too far into Rie’s strange acts of kindness and friendship because he’s pathetic and lonely and wants to believe that maybe, just maybe, there could be something more between them than just friendship.

 

“Of all the people for you to go and get attached to, why the hell did it have to be  **her** ?” Ryo spat at his image. The mirror, of course, did not respond, in fact for the first time in a long while, his mind offered Ryo no answer to his question, no solution to his problem, and no relief to the somber pain spreading throughout his chest.

 

“Fucking idiot” Ryo sighed once again, turning away from the mirror and shaking his head.

 

“As if somebody like her could ever love a failure like you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok... so, like... I wasn’t gonna write half the shit in this chapter, specifically the kissing part, until way later in the story. But then I got impatient, and I decided that I didn’t want to wait until later in the story for that to happen, I wanted them to kiss NOW, so that’s what I did, because this is my self-indulgent story, and I will write whatever the hell I want, and there’s nothing any of you can do to stop me. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!  
> In all honesty, let me know what you thought of this chapter down in the comments. I’m on a bit of a role with this story right now, so I’ve got a couple of chapters on backlog that I can post every couple of days, so hopefully I don’t lose my sudden motivation too quickly, and I can keep up loading a chapter or two a week for the next while or so.  
> I don’t really have much of an end destination for this story, I kind of just started writing it on a whim and wanted to see where it took me, and that’s very much the mentality I’m continuing to work with, but unlike some of the other stories I’ve written, where I kind of knew where I wanted the story to end when I finished writing it, I very much don’t know where I want this one to end, If I just want to keep writing until I decided to stop, or if I want to end this story at some point and start another one after a time skip. Idk I guess I’ll just have to wait and see where this takes me. Thanks so much for reading and Ill see you guys soon for chapter 10. Bye!


	10. Dog Sitting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. I blame shipping_ruined_my_life for indirectly convincing me to post this chapter today instead of in a few days. Enjoy!

“Ryo, are you sure you’re ok with doing this?” The raven haired man groaned as Rie asked him the same question again, for what felt like the thousandth time.

 

“Rie I swear to god, if you ask me that again, I’m gonna fucking strangle you” Ryo threatens. The blonde glares at him as she finished shoving the last few articles of clothing she had set out into the open suitcase lying on her living room floor.

 

It was now the beginning of October, and Rie was going back to England for two weeks. The reason for this last minute trip back home was due to the untimely death of a close family member, something that Rie had been, understandably, rather upset about when her parents informed her about it a few days ago.

 

Ryo ended up finding out about the incident on the way to work that next morning. The raven haired man had noticed how tired and upset Rie looked, and after asking what was wrong, the blonde to practically burst into tears, a reaction that Ryo had definitely not expected. When she finally calmed down, Rie told him about her aunt passing away after being hit by a drunk driver and how she’d have to fly home in a few days if she wanted to attend the funeral, but likely wouldn’t be able to because she couldn’t find anyone to look after Koda while she was gone.

 

After hearing this, Ryo felt… conflicted. When his parents died in that car crash three years ago, Ryo had only been 17 at the time, and had been absolutely devastated by the news that he and Kumi were now completely on their own, with no known relatives around or willing to take care of either of them, and the two siblings lost everything they knew and loved not long after that. While his situation wasn’t quite the same as Rie’s, the raven haired man found himself feeling a lot more sympathetic toward the blonde’s emotional distress than he normally would, even going as far as to wrap an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort the sobbing woman. It was awkward and definitely showed how terrible Ryo was at comforting people, but Rie seemed to appreciate the gesture nonetheless.

 

It was during moments like these that Ryo had a habit of making really dumb decisions that landed him in incredibly annoying and uncomfortable situations, and today was absolutely no different, because just as the two friends were about to part ways to go about their respective days, Ryo decided to open his mouth, and now he was stuck watching Koda for the next two weeks.

 

Fast forward to the present moment, Ryo was sitting on Rie’s couch, watching the young woman get the last of her things packed and ready to go. It was around 6:30 in the evening, and Rie’s flight to England would be leaving in a few hours. Ryo had also stupidly offered to drive her to the airport, despite absolutely **loathing** the traffic at Tokyo International Airport.

 

“Look, I really appreciate you trying to help me out like this so I can go home, but aren’t you afraid of dogs?” Rie asks from her spot sitting on the floor. Ryo scowls in annoyance.

 

“How many time do I have to tell you. I’m not afraid of dogs.” The blonde rolls her eyes.

 

“Yes Ryo, you are, and I know that because you practically leap 5 ft into the air every time Koda some much as looks at you.”

 

“I do not leap” Ryo squawks indignantly. Rie stares at him with a deadpan expression before turning to Koda, who’s asleep in his bed a few feet away from her.

 

“Koda” she calls, and the pitbull obediently lifts his head up at the sound of his name. Rie picks up a tennis ball and tosses it on the couch right next to where Ryo is sitting, and the raven haired man screams, throwing himself off the side of the couch, as Koda shoots up from his bed and bolts onto the couch after his toy. Rie bursts out laughing, as Ryo backs away from the couch, keeping an eye on the large dog now occupying his previous spot.

 

“You were saying?” Rie said teasingly. Ryo’s face turned a bright cherry red.

 

“Fuck. You.” Ryo curses through gritted teeth, which only prompts Rie to burst out laughing again.

 

A little while later, Rie is all packed and ready for her trip. It takes about 30 minutes to get to the airport, and as Ryo expected, the traffic leading up to it is absolutely awful, but thankfully not so bad that Rie is in any danger of missing her flight. Ryo pulls the car up to the curb just a little ways away from the front entrance to the airport and gets out of the car to help Rie with her bag.

 

“Got everything?” Ryo says loudly, having to speak up over all the noise.

 

“Yup” Rie responds, pulling the straps of her backpack on.

 

“Well double check, ‘cuz I’m not turning around if you forgot something.”

 

“Don’t worry, I have everything.” Ryo nods as he shuts the trunk closed, turning to face the blonde.

 

“Well, fly safe and uh… send your family my condolences” Ryo says awkwardly, trying, and failing, to act casual. Rie smiles at him before stepping forward to wrap her arms around Ryo’s middle, burying her face in his chest. Ryo stiffens at the sudden contact, suddenly becoming very aware of how many people are currently walking around the airport.

 

“Thank you, Ryo. You have no idea how much it means that you’re doing this for me” Rie says, her words slightly muffled by the fabric of Ryo’s shirt. The taller man swallows thickly.

 

“Ya, uh… no problem” Ryo stammers, giving Rie an awkward pat on the back, hoping to whatever god would listen that the blonde couldn’t hear his heart hammering against his rib cage. Rie finally let's go after a moment, taking a deep breath before grabbing her suitcase and stepping onto the curb.

 

“Alright, I’m off. Take good care of Koda for me, ok?”

 

“Ya don’t worry, we’ll be fine” Ryo assures. Rie chuckles lightly to herself, but does not say anything further.

 

“Well in that case, I’ll see you when I get back” the blonde says, turning and heading into the airport, throwing a small wave at Ryo just before she disappears into the large crowd. The raven haired man sighs, getting back into Rie’s car and sitting their for a moment before allowing his head to hit the rim of the steering wheel with a soft ‘thunk’.

 

“Why do I keep doing this to myself?” Ryo wonders aloud, the realization of just how screwed he was in this whole situation finally setting in.

 

Ryo groans and sits up, putting a seatbelt on before throwing the car into drive and stepping on the gas, just as the people behind him start honking their horns and yelling at him.

 

This is going to be a very long two weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so it came to my attention that I have yet to include any content featuring Ryo having to take care of or getting to know Rie’s dog Koda, who is an integral part of Rie’s life, and someone that Ryo is going to have to get comfortable around if he wants to get close with Rie. I always hate it when my friends get a new boyfriend, but he is just absolutely awful to their dog, it boils my blood knowing that the poor pups might end up neglected or even abused just because the boyfriend doesn’t like them, so I’ve decided that the next fewer chapters are going to revolve around Ryo and Koda getting to know each other and Ryo getting over his traumatic experiences with dogs, even though he really doesn’t want to. Don’t worry, Ryo and Koda are going to be very good friends, very soon. Let me know what you think of this chapter down in the comments below, and I’ll see you all soon for chapter 11. Bye!


	11. Ankle Biters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

The following morning, Ryo is standing outside the door to Rie’s empty apartment. It’s early, far earlier than Ryo would have liked to be up and out of the house on a Saturday morning, but with Rie out of town and Koda needing somebody to check in on him a couple times a day while she’s away, Ryo didn’t really have much say in the matter. 

 

A solid couple of minutes had passed since Ryo had arrived at the door, but for some reason, the raven haired man could not bring himself to unlock the door and go inside, lest he have to be alone with the canine on the other side. Just the thought of those big, meaty paws, the broad, muscled shoulders, coupled with a mouthful of razor sharp teeth, made Ryo’s skin crawl uncomfortably. You see, the thing about Ryo, is that he absolutely 100% isn’t afraid of dogs…

 

He’s fucking  **terrified** of them. 

 

Yes, yes, I know what you’re all thinking. You’re all wondering, ‘how on earth could the terrifying Grim Reaper himself be afraid of something as sweet and harmless as a puppy dog?’. Well let me tell you how.

 

It all started one unassuming day back when Ryo was in middle school. The then-young boy was walking home from school, minding his own business, when out of a nearby alleyway, a huge Japanese Mastiff came sprinting out of nowhere, barking and snarling wildly, before attacking the poor, unsuspecting Ryo. The next 2 and a half minutes were easily some of the most horrifying and traumatizing minutes of Ryo’s entire life.

 

Thankfully, Ryo’s high pitched screams were loud enough to draw the attention of some adults nearby, who immediately ran toward the sound of distressed screaming. Just as the adults were about to arrive and help Ryo, the mastiff jumped back, opening it’s massive jaws before clamping down and sinking it’s teeth into Ryo’s right ankle, beginning to drag the now historical boy toward the alley, letting go and taking off only when a store owner finally ran up with a stick and began beating the violent animal with it.

 

It had been almost 7 years since that event took place, and yet to this day, Ryo can still vividly remember the paralyzing fear that took over when the dog first began its attack, as well as the searing, unbearable pain of teeth sinking into tender flesh. Ryo only sustained one injury from that day, and it was permanently engraved onto his skin in the form of long lines of pale, indented skin wrapped around his ankle, indicating that the flesh had once been held together with stitches that closed the holes where small chunks had been literally ripped off, as the dog tried to drag him into the alley.

 

There were no words to describe just how terrifying that day had been for Ryo, or the lasting effect it had on his psyche. Every time he so much as saw a dog, fear immediately jolted throughout his body, his hands started trembling, and a deep aching pain resonated from his ankle, all subconscious indications from his brain that he needed to get the fuck out of wherever the hell he was before that monster decided to eat him for dinner.

 

And yet despite his extreme, albeit justified, fear of dogs, Ryo had somehow managed to land a job as a dog sitter for the next two weeks, looking after none other than a fucking  **pitbull** , one of the most violent and aggressive breeds of dogs that Ryo could think of. Then again, Ryo had never actually seen Koda act aggressive or hostile in any way, excited perhaps, but never with the intention to do harm. If anything, Koda was probably one of the most well behaved dogs that Ryo had ever seen, not that he made a habit of making note of dog’s behaviors, or observing them, or looking at them, or being in the general vicinity of them. Then again, Rie had been around for all those times, teasing him about his tendency to flinch whenever Koda so much as moved, but always keeping a dutiful eye out, removing the dog from the room when she noticed Ryo’s discomfort beginning to shift to genuine panic. This time around, Ryo was all on his own, and without his master around to keep him under control, there were no guarantees that Koda would listen to a word he said.

 

A sighed in frustration, curling his fists into balls in an attempt to stop them from trembling.

 

“Ok Ryo, just calm down” he says aloud to himself, finally taking the set of keys Rie gave him out of his pocket and shoving the correct one into the lock. “You’ve dealt with more dangerous shit than this before, and you came out of that just fine. It’s just a stupid mutt, there’s nothing to be afraid about. You’re not 13 anymore, so even if it does try something funny, you’re more than strong enough to take it.”

 

With the door now unlocked, Ryo grasps the handle with a shaking fist, turns it, and allows the door to swing open, revealing… a whole lot of nothing. Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow, poking his head through the door and glancing around, looking for any sight of a large, spotted canine. Not sensing any immediate danger, Ryo steps inside the apartment, closing the door behind him and setting his bags down on the floor. It’s only once the raven haired man begins toeing his shoes off that he finally hears it, the pitter patter of  **claws** against hardwood floor, alongside the jingle of metal dogs tags, starting from Rie’s bedroom, but quickly getting louder and louder, closer and closer, until finally, the object of Ryo’s teenage, and sometimes adult, nightmares, walks into the living room.

 

A tense silence fills the apartment as Ryo stares, unmoving, unbreathing, at Koda, who stares back at the man with mild curiosity, and perhaps even slight confusion, perhaps wondering what Ryo was doing here. Koda sniffs the air, surveying the area as though he were looking for something, or maybe someone. With Koda’s attention directed elsewhere, Ryo began to slowly and carefully reach for the door handle, any and all confidence he had about dealing with Koda completely annihilated once he actually saw the dog, the only thoughts running through his head at the present moment all screaming at him as he did everything in his power to hold back the onrushing panic attack that threatened to take hold of him. Right now, Ryo needed to get out of that apartment, get out of the building, forget about his stuff, none of that mattered, he could buy new stuff, replacing stuff was easy, but what wasn’t easy to replace was his goddamn leg, which he was definitely wasn’t going to be luck enough to keep if Koda decided he wanted to try a bite.

 

Ryo wraps his now trembling fist around the door handle again and slowly turns it. Unfortunately, Ryo’s fear and panic made him impatient, attempting to pull the door open before the handle had been fully turned, causing the door to make a loud ‘clunk’ sound as it opened. Koda’s eyes immediately locked on to Ryo, who stood like a deer in the headlights, clutching the handle of the door in his trembling hand like his life depended on it, his eyes wide as he stared at the pitbull.

 

“H-hey Koda. You remember me, right?” Ryo asked with a shaky voice, not entirely sure why he was trying to talk to the animal that was about to rip his head off. Koda began panting in response, his tongue drooping out the side of his mouth.

 

“Ok, I need you to do me a favor, and stay right where you are, and I’m just gonna go” Ryo says, really to no one in particular, as he slowly begins opening the door wider. Unfortunately for him, Koda takes this as his opportunity to strike, rushing forward at a breakneck pace. Ryo fumbles, crashing to the floor with a loud ‘thud’, after simultaneously yanking the door open and stepping forward, causing his head to smack right into the hard wood. The raven haired man braces his arms around his head and curls into a ball, preparing for his inevitable doom.

 

One minute passes.

 

Two minutes pass.

 

Three minutes pass.

 

Something wet trails up the length of Ryo’s forearm. 

 

“EW GROSS” Ryo yells in disgust, lurching back from his spot curled up on the floor, at the strange sensation of Koda’s tongue licking him. Ryo groans, wiping the disgusting slobber onto his pants, casting a wary glance at Koda. The dog in question merely stood in front of Ryo, standing only a little shorter than Ryo while the raven haired man sat on the floor, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth while his tail wagged so furiously behind him that his butt moved in sync along with it.

 

Standing up, Ryo carefully made his way over to the kitchen, where Rie had disclosed where she kept Koda’s food and water bowls, keeping a keen eye on the dog at all times. Koda trailed behind Ryo like a goddamn shadow as the raven haired man filled his bowl full of food, never actually doing anything aggressive or alarming, but just being so close to him at all times that Ryo couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. 

 

Taking Koda out for a walk wasn’t much better either. Although Koda paid Ryo little attention while they walked around the block a few times, he walked as far away from the dog as the leash would allow him too, and kept the arm holding the leash as stiff as a board, ready to drop it and run if the situation required. Thankfully, both Ryo and Koda made it back to Rie’s apartment alive and unharmed, just in time for Ryo to be able to leave and still make it to work on time. Ryo quickly gathered his things and closed the apartment door behind him, locking it up while Koda was distracted with his breakfast. 

 

Ideally, Rie wants him to come back and let Koda out once around lunch time, if he has the chance, but after the sheer amount of stress Ryo was forced to deal with this morning, he wasn’t entirely sure if he was up for it. 

 

‘He should be fine until after boxing practice’ Ryo assured himself as he exited the apartment building and began making his way back home.

 

‘Stupid mutt probably prefers sleeping the day away by himself, anyways.‘

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have a little backstory behind why Ryo is so afraid of dogs. I based this off of an experience a friend of mine had, where he was attacked by a dog when he was a teen and was terrified of dogs until he met his girlfriend’s dog, and while I don’t know the specifics of what happened between him and his girlfriend’s dog that led him to get over his fear of dogs, all I know is that he now LOVES that fucking dog, and although he is still wary of dogs he doesn’t know, he no longer has a panic attack every time he sees one, so that’s kind of what I based Ryo’s experience off of. Let me know what you think of this chapter down in the comments below, and I hope to see you all very soon for chapter 12. Bye!


	12. Learning to Get Along

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

“Koda get out from under the fucking bed, will you” Ryo commands, his voice laced with exhaustion and frustration, at both the spotted pitbull currently cowering under Rie’s bed, as well as himself. The blonde had been gone for about 6 days now, and things have most definitely not gotten easier for Ryo in the time he’s spent looking after her dog, in fact if anything, things could not be going worse for him, and the worst part, was that it was entirely his own fault.

 

The first 2 days had been one thing. Ryo spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday keeping Koda at arms length, doing whatever was necessary to keep the dog happy and docile, if only for the sake of his own sanity. Koda on the other hand, seemed totally oblivious to Ryo’s discomfort around him, acting the same stupid way around Ryo as he did around Rie, except, unlike with his master, Ryo make no attempt to engage the spotted pitbull in any sort of play or, which apparently, Koda did not appreciate.

 

It was by day 3 that things started to get tricky. Ryo had become slightly less skittish of Koda, but still only paid the absolute minimum amount of attention to him. When Ryo gathered his things and attempted to walk out the door for work, he was met with the sight of Koda, sitting down in front of the door with his leash hanging in his mouth. Ryo, obviously ignored the dog, shoving him out of the way with his leg and leaving for work. When Ryo came back later that night, Koda did the same thing, except this time, he laid down in front of the door, making it much harder for Ryo to shove him out of the way and leave for work.

 

This frustrating pattern continued every single time Ryo stopped by, with Koda progressively trying to get more and more in the way of Ryo leaving the apartment with each passing visit. The new development in Koda’s behavior was absolutely infuriating to Ryo, who wanted absolutely nothing to do with the dog as it was, and even less so now that all he seemed to do was whine while staring at Ryo with those big sad puppy dog eyes. It was annoying and stupid and Ryo wanted nothing more than for Koda to go away and leave him the fuck alone.

 

And then it happened.

 

On Wednesday morning, after a particularly poor night’s sleep, and on top of all the other stresses that were compounding themselves on top of Ryo, overwhelming him to the point of a mental breakdown, Ryo’s already short patience was at an all-time low. So, in a frustrated, exhausted, and desperate attempt to get Koda to stop trying to wedge himself out the door to Rie’s apartment so he could leave and go to work and get this fucking day over with, Ryo’s hand came down hard, smacking against the bridge of Koda’s nose with an intensity that echoed throughout Rie’s living room. 

 

Koda immediately recoiled, letting out a high pitched cry of pain, cowering in front of the raven haired man. Ryo stood in shock for a moment, before casting a glance at his hand as though it had grown a mind of its own and taken control of itself. The raven haired man couldn’t believe it. He’d just hit Koda.

 

Ryo looked up when he heard he sound of pained whimpering, and his eyes widened slightly when he saw how Koda was standing, practically curled in a ball just a few feet away from where Ryo was, his tail tucked between his legs, and entire body shaking while he looked up at Ryo with… fear. 

 

Ryo took an experimental step toward the dog, but the whimpering only increased in volume, and Koda began backing away from Ryo, slowly at first, and then bolting it into Rie’s room. A tense and empty silence filled the living room after Koda fled. At this point, Ryo wasn’t entirely sure what to do. He hadn’t mean to do it, of course. It had been an accident, a purely instinctual act that he didn’t even have time to think about before it happened. But he still did it, and now Ryo was paying dearly for that mistake, as he stood on his hands and knees in front of Rie’s bed, trying, with absolutely no success, to coax Koda out from under it.

 

“Koda come on, this is getting ridiculous. Come. Out. Of. There” Ryo demanded, reaching a hand under the bed to try and pull the dog out by the collar, but Koda merely backed further under the bed, letting out a stream of high-pitched whimpers while he was at it. Ryo groaned in frustration and allowed his head to drop to the floor with a ‘thunk’.

 

He felt bad, he really did. Ryo knew from the moment his hand made contact with the top of Koda’s head that he shouldn’t have hit him. Koda hadn’t even done anything to deserve it. Sure he was being an annoying little shit by trying to get out of the apartment every time Ryo so much as opened the door, but that wasn’t something that deserved to be punished like that. Discouraged maybe. But definitely not punished.

 

“Rie is gonna fucking kill me” Ryo laments aloud, not even wanting to think too much about what the blonde was going to do to him once she found out that Ryo had hit her dog. Ryo had to fix this. He didn’t have to get Koda to like him necessarily, but he at the very least had to get the dog to not cower in fear whenever he so much as went near him.

 

The irony of this situation was almost too much for Ryo to handle. Here he was, terrified of dogs after being attacked by one when he was a kid, trying to get a dog he had accidentally attacked to stop being terrified of him. The universe must really be having a laugh at this one. Fucking dick.

 

Heading into the kitchen, Ryo grabs a handful of dogs treats from a jar on the counter, before returning to Rie’s bedroom and getting back down onto his stomach. A moment of silence passes as Ryo stares at Koda, who stares back at him warily. This is stupid, there’s absolutely no reason why Ryo should be trying to apologize to a fucking mutt. Then again, there wasn’t really much of a reason for Ryo to do any of the things he had been doing recently, so why start questioning it now?

 

Taking a deep breath, Ryo slowly reaches his hand under the bed, a treat grasped between his fingers. Koda retreats further under the bed for a moment, but pauses, leaning forward and sniffing at the treat just a foot away from him, clearly interested. A few seconds pass before the spotted pitbull finally begins inching forward, pausing every so often to assess the human attached to his treat. All things considered, Ryo was doing a fairly good job of remaining calm. He was still nervous, wary of the fact that Koda could easily take his hand along with the strip of jerky it currently held, but deciding to give the dog the benefit of the doubt.

 

After what felt like an eternity, Koda was finally within reaching distance of Ryo. The raven haired man has to hold his breath and grind his teeth together to resist the urge to yank his arm away, as Koda’s mouth opens, revealing rows of sharp, deadly teeth. Surprisingly enough however, instead of ripping into the tender flesh of his hand like Ryo expected he would, Koda instead gently closed his mouth around the tip of the jerky strip, far away from Ryo’s hand, and waited patiently for the man to release the treat, before finally throwing it into his mouth, practically swallowing it whole.

 

Once he was finished with the first treat, Koda looked up at Ryo expectantly, his tail beginning to wag slightly behind him.

 

“You want another one?” Ryo asks, holding out a second treat, this time, slightly closer to him. Again Koda inches toward Ryo, gently taking the treat from him before swallowing the whole thing in one bit. Again and again Ryo offers Koda another treat, and again and again Koda inches slightly closer to the man, gently taking it and swallowing it down. This pattern continues until Ryo is sitting on the floor by the wall with Koda standing in front of him, having finally crawled out from under the bed. Ryo holds up the treat.

 

“Sit…?” He half commands, surprised when Koda actually listens to the command, obediently taking a seat, his tail wagging to and fro on the hardwood floor. Ryo offers Koda the final treat, but instead of immediately eating it, like he did back when he was hiding, Koda takes a few steps toward Ryo, doing a sort of half-turn before finally laying down in the spot between Ryo’s legs, resting his head against the man’s thigh. Ryo stiffens, having absolutely no idea what to make of the dog now laying in his lap. A moment of tense silence passes before he slowly lowers a shaking hand, allowing it to gently rest on the top of Koda’s head. 

 

Koda practically melts into the touch.

 

Ryo allows a disbelieving chuckle to escape as he hand scratches at the short tufts of fur on Koda’s head, his tongue now hanging out the side of his mouth as he pants happily in the man’s lap.

 

“Well what do you know… I guess you’re not as dangerous as I thought you were” Ryo admits to the spotted pitbull, whose tail begins thumping against the floor. A few moments later, Ryo gets off the floor and heads back into the living room, Koda now following behind him, darting for the door in excitement when Ryo grabs his leash from its spot handing from the wall.

 

Today’s walk goes a lot better than it had in previous days, since Ryo no longer tries to keep Koda as far away from him as possible, and Koda seems to enjoy the slightly faster pace that Ryo goes at, having to trot alongside him to keep up with the man’s much larger strides. By the time they get back to Rie’s, Koda is in a much better mood than he was when Ryo first arrived, and honestly, Ryo finds himself smiling and rolling his eyes as he watches Koda run circles around the tables and couch. 

 

Just as Ryo is about to put his shoes on and go to work, Koda trots over to him with a tennis ball, dropping the slobbery sphere at Ryo’s feet. He frowns.

 

“Koda I need to leave.” He says firmly. The dog merely noses the ball so it rolls into his foot.

 

“Koda I don’t have time to play with you right now” Ryo states again. Koda begins whining, picking up the ball and dropping it again.

 

“Koda I can’t be late for work. I’ll play with you later.” Ryo sighs, as the dog’s whines increase in pitch, and he stubbornly sits himself in front of the door, just like before. 

 

“Koda…” Ryo begins, trailing off when the dog looks up at him with those big, sad eyes. The raven haired man bends down, allowing his hand to scratch behind the dog's ear. Ryo hates to admit it, but he’s honestly starting to feel a bit guilty about leaving Koda here alone, all by himself, but there wasn’t really anything he could do. Whether he wanted to or not, Ryo had to go to work, he had to go to training, and he had to go home to Kumi, which meant that Koda had to stay here by himself while he was gone… or did he?

 

Rie never said that Koda had to stay at her place the entire time she was gone, and if leaving him here alone all day was going to make taking care of him a pain in the ass, then why not just...  bring Koda home with him? 

 

‘Ok? And then what?’ Ryo thinks to himself while he absentmindedly pets Koda. It wasn’t a terrible idea. After all, if Koda came and stayed with him, Ryo wouldn’t have to worry about waking up at the asscrack of dawn to go to Rie’s apartment to take care of him anymore, but on the other hand, he’d have to answer a lot of questions from Kumi, who a) knows how terrified his is of dogs, and would therefore be very confused as to what he was doing with one in his possession, and b) the subject of Rie would probably come up at some point, and Ryo may end up having to explain the entire awkward situation surrounding her, which is something he’d much rather avoid. Not to mention that even if Koda did come and stay at his place, he’d still be alone for most of the day because Ryo still had work and training to go to, so the problem would only be marginally solved in that respect.

 

Ryo groans in frustration, looking at Koda.

 

“What the hell am I gonna do with you?” He asks, unsure why he was trying to have a conversation with a dog. Koda gets up from his spot and heads over to where Ryo had thrown his leash, picking it up and trotting back over to the raven haired man, sitting patiently in front of him.

 

‘Take me with you’ those big eyes begged, and for the first time in his life, Ryo felt his nerves and anxiety he had previously had whenever he was around Koda slowly but surely melt away, as he let out a disbelieving chuckle. 

 

“You are a massive pain in my ass, you know that?” Ryo saye, though unable to stop the smile from spreading across his lips as Koda drops the leash at his feet, looking at his expectantly.

 

“Alright, alright fine, you win. But if you get me fired, I’m gonna skin you alive” Ryo threatens, though his words have no effect on Koda, who immediately darts excitedly for the front door when Ryo picks his leash up off the ground, latching it onto Koda’s collar and opening the door for both of them to exit the apartment.

 

“I can’t believe I’m risking my job for a mangy mutt.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I know this chapter started out a little sad, but I promise it’s nothing but sunshine and rainbows between Koda and Ryo from now on. Sometimes all it takes to get over your fear of something, is to realize that it’s just as afraid of you as you are of it, and that just because one dog was nasty and violent, doesn’t mean that all dogs are that way. I’m a little iffy about how this chapter turned out, but overall I think its pretty ok. Not the greatest thing I’ve ever written, but good in its own way. Next chapter on the other hand, was a FUCKING BLAST to write, and I can’t wait until I can finally share with you guys, all the shenanigans that go on in that chapter. Make sure you let me know what you think of this chapter down in the comments below, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 13. Bye!


	13. House Guest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. I’m on a roll. Enjoy!

The walk to Ryo’s work went a great deal quicker than Ryo had expected it to, and by the time his work was nearly in sight, Ryo was a whole 10 minutes earlier than he usually was. In the distance, he could just make out Mr. Tanaka opening up the front gates, and Ryo ducks out of the way with Koda so that the older man doesn’t see him as he heads inside to begin the workday. 

 

After waiting for a moment, to make sure the older man doesn’t come back out, Ryo heads over to a nearby bike hookup, and ties Koda to it.

 

“Alright you mangy mutt, stay right here, don’t move, and I’ll be back in just a minute” Ryo says before turning and heading toward the gate. He makes it about 4 steps inside before he’s spotted.

 

“Oh Mashiba, good morning. You’re here bright and early” Mr. Tanaka comments, a smile on his face. Ryo groans in frustration.

 

“Ya, just thought I’d get a jump on the day” Ryo says, trying not to sound like he’s in too much of a rush, even though he is.

 

“Well that’s good to hear. So how is Rie doing?” The older man chuckles, casting Ryo a small smirk. Ryo tenses.

 

“Uh, she’s… at a funeral” Ryo admits after a small pause. The smirk on Mr. Tanaka’s face immediately disappears, and is replaced with a concerned expression.

 

“A funeral? Oh goodness, I’m so sorry to hear that. Is she doing alright?”

 

“About as well as she can be I guess” Ryo shrugs.

 

“Oh that’s terrible, I’m so sorry for her loss. Let her know that if she needs anything to give me a call, and I’ll do my best to help her out in any way I can.” Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow at Mr. Tanaka.

 

“Uh… sure, I’ll be sure to do that” Ryo says, before turning and heading inside to change his clothes. After he’s changed into his work uniform, Ryo hauls ass to try and load up all his deliveries as quickly as possible, growing more and more concerned about Koda with each passing minute. By the time Ryo’s truck is loaded and he’s ready to set out on his delivery route, the other employees have only just gotten done changing their clothes and begun loading up their own trucks.

 

Ryo pulls out onto the street and drives a little ways down the road, before parking and getting out, running across the street to grab Koda, who is thankfully still tied to the bike stand Ryo left him at. The spotted pitbull immediately stands up once he notices Ryo, and his tail begins to wag madly as he’s led to the large truck.

 

“Holy shit, you’re fucking heavy” Ryo complains as he heaves Koda into the truck, closing the door behind him and heading around to the driver’s seat. Koda practically jumps on Ryo as he climbs into the truck, climbing into his lap and licking at his face.

 

“Ew, Koda get off” Ryo demands, pushing Koda off and wiping his face on his uniform. Ryo might be slightly more tolerant of Koda now than he was before, but that doesn’t mean he wants his face to be covered in dog spit any more than he did before. Thankfully, Koda settles down on the seat next to Ryo, allowing the raven haired man to buckle his seatbelt, set the truck into drive, and finally begin his day. 

 

Despite the added addition of Koda for Ryo to worry about, today’s delivery route had actually got really well. Perfect even. Koda had never once tried to escape out of the truck when Ryo got out to take packages in, he’d been fairly silent the entire time, save for the occasional barking when he saw another dog walking on the sidewalk, and at some point had taken to simply laying his head against Ryo’s leg while they drove to their next destination. All in all, Ryo would say that his decision to bring Koda with him to work had turned out better than he could have ever hoped, and the raven haired man was almost disappointed when it was finally time for him to head back to drop off the truck and clock out for the day. Almost.

 

Nobody was around when Ryo backed his truck into its spot and got out, letting out a loud grunt when Koda practically jumped into his arms, sending them both crashing to the ground. The raven haired man goaned in mild frustration as Koda began running around like a maniac, chasing his tail in circles before running face first into a wall.

 

“Koda! Come here you mangy mutt, before somebody sees you” Ryo calls, picking up the leash once Koda trots obediently over to him. Ryo changes as quickly as possible and clocks out. Peeking out the door to the changing room, Ryo makes sure nobody was around, before darting out the front gates and down the street with Koda following closely behind. They continue running until they finally arrive just outside of Toho Gym, where Ryo finally pauses to think about this current situation.

 

Things had gone very smoothly at work today with Koda, far smoother than Ryo thought they would go, but that was only because Ryo had managed to keep Koda out of sight of his boss and his nosy coworkers, but things were a bit different at the gym. After all, it wasn’t like he could sneak a dog as big as Koda inside the gym and hide him without anybody noticing or finding out. At this point, Ryo had two options: 1) take Koda home and deal with Kumi finding him while he was out at practice or 2) just bring Koda into the gym with him and hope that anybody who asked about it wouldn’t want too many details about why Ryo had brought a dog with him to the boxing gym.

 

Feeling unusually brave after how well today went at work, Ryo simply opens the door and heads into the building with Koda in tow. As he expected, all eyes in the gym immediately turned to Ryo as he walked into the room, or rather, their eyes turned to the spotted pitbull walking next to him. Whispers and questions filled the room as Ryo tied Koda to a bench against the wall, before heading into the locker room to change into his workout clothes.

 

Once Ryo has finished changing and exits the locker room to go do some roadwork, he’s surprised to find a crowd of people surrounding where he had left Koda, all of the men having gathered around the dog out of sheer curiosity, but were now smiling and petting the spotted dog, all of them laughing as Koda rolled on to his back, a silent request for belly rubs.

 

“Hey, Mashiba” one of the men shouted once they noticed him.

 

“What?” He responded coldly.

 

“Is this your dog?”

 

“Ya, is he yours?”

 

“What’s his name?”

 

“What breed it he?”

 

“Why did you bring him in today?”

 

“Mind if I take him out for my roadwork?”

 

Ryo is honestly a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of questions being asked by his ‘gym-mates’. Nobody at the gym ever really paid much attention to him, most of them too frightened by his intimidating appearance to ever even attempt approaching him.

 

“His name’s Koda, he’s a pitbull and be belongs to a friend of mine who went out of town for a few days, so I’m taking care of him right now” Ryo responds, not wanting to give out too many details regarding his ‘friend’ but also not wanting them to keep bugging him with all their stupid little questions. All of the men immediately turn their attention back toward Koda, continuing to shower the large dog with pets and rubs, at least until Coach Toho walks in.

 

“Is there any particular reason why none of my boxers are doing any boxing” he yells from across the room, catching everyone’s attention and causing them them to scatter about, returning to their previous tasks. Koda is very displeased that everyone left so suddenly, getting up off the floor and walking out as far into the room as his leash will allow, whimpering slightly. Coach Toho approaches Ryo.

 

“I never thought that  **you** were going to be the person who forced me to put up a ‘No Pets Allowed’ sign” Coach Toho says, looking pointedly at Ryo, who remains silent.

 

“Is he going to be an issue?” The coach asks, jabbing a thumb in Koda’s direction.

 

“Koda” Ryo calls, catching the dogs attention. “Lay down.”

 

Koda blinks at the raven haired man for a moment, before finally walking back to the bench and obediently laying down.

 

“Does he look like he’s gonna be an issue?” Ryo asks, inwardly pleased by Coach Toho’s shocked expression over Koda’s obedience. The bespeckled man hums under his breath.

 

“Very well. He can stay so long as he behaves, and doesn’t prove to be too much of a distraction to the other boxers.” And with that, Coach Toho turns on his heel and walks back toward his office, leaving Ryo to finally begin his training regimen for the day.

 

Nothing exceptional happened during training. Ryo completed his regimen, had a couple sparring matches to ready himself up for his upcoming match in the Rookie King Tournament, which looked like it was going to be even easier than his previous match, before spending a decent amount of time by himself with the punching bags. Every so often, Ryo would glance over his shoulder to check on Koda, chuckling to himself once he noticed that Koda had fallen asleep at some point, tuckered out from the day’s excitement.

 

Once Ryo was finished training and was ready to go home for the evening, he approached the still sleeping dog and gave him a light nudge to the stomach with his foot, which seemed to work well enough in getting Koda to wake up. 

 

“Hey Mashiba” another one of Ryo’s gym-mates called from the door to the dressing room. “You’re gonna bring Koda with you again tomorrow, right?”

 

Ryo raised a questioning eyebrow as several more of his so-called gym-mates all chirped in as well, expressing their desires for Koda to come back tomorrow as well.

 

“Uh… ya I guess I was gonna bring him” Ryo responds, unsure of what else to say.

 

“Great, we look forward to it. See you tomorrow. Bye Koda” they all say, before returning to whatever conversations it was they were having previously. Ryo is confused, unsure why they were so interested in him and Koda all of a sudden, to the point where they would ask that he bring the dog back the next day, but he merely shrugs it off, not really caring about the whats or whys of his gym-mates.

 

During the walk home, Ryo prepared himself for the worst. He knew that today had gone far too well for things to continue this way, so the raven haired man knew that things were absolutely going to go tits upward once he got home and had to somehow explain to Kumi what in the actual hell he was doing with a pitbull. At one point, Ryo thought about lying to her, telling Kumi that he’d found the dog randomly and was planning on taking it to the vet later in the week so that it could be returned to its owner, but then immediately thought better of it. Ryo might have done a pretty good job of keeping Kumi from finding out about Rie so far, but Kumi was not dumb enough to believe whatever half-baked lie her brother threw in her face. And the fact that he was lying to her would only result in Kumi trying to find out whatever it was that Ryo was hiding from her, and that was not something Ryo needed happening right now. Alright, so in that case he’d just tell her the truth. Not the whole truth of course, but enough of the truth that Kumi would be satisfied, and not feel the need to go snooping around in the intimate areas of Ryo’s “social life”. 

 

Taking a deep breath, Ryo unlocked the front door to his and Kumi’s apartment, letting Koda trot inside first, before following, closing and locking the door behind him.

 

Kumi’s scream catches his attention.

 

“Kumi” Ryo yells, dashing into the living room, hoping to god that Koda wasn’t hurting her. Ryo stops once he reaches the living room, Kumi’s screams of terror immediately turn to laughs and cries of joy, as Ryo sees Koda running circles around the table Kumi was doing homework at, stopping in front of the young girl every few laps to lick excitedly at her face. Kumi looked like she was in heaven.

 

“Hello! Who are you? Where did you come from? What’s your name? Of you’re so cute!” Kumi coos, wrapping her arms around Koda as the large dog practically sits himself in her lap, his tail banging against the side of the table. Ryo let's out a sigh of relief, glad that this was the sight he was seeing, rather than the bloody alternative his brain had flashed before his eyes when he first heard Kumi’s scream. 

 

Kumi looks up, her eyes widening in shock once she finally notices Ryo standing there.

 

“Oh Ryo, you’re home. Welcome back” she greets cheerfully, before a thought crosses her mind.

 

“Ryo… why do you have a dog with you?” She asks, clearly confused by the current situation as her brain begins connecting the pieces of the puzzle. Ryo swallows thickly, shoving his hands into his pocket. 

 

‘Well, here goes nothing.’

 

“This is Koda. I’m watching him for a friend of mine. They’re gonna be out of town until next week so I said I’d watch him for them. So I figured I’d bring him here. I uh, hope that’s ok?” Kumi stares at her older brother with wide eyes and a curious expression. She blinks a few times before speaking.

 

“A… a friend of yours?” Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow.

 

“Um… ya?” 

 

A moment of silence passes between the siblings before Kumi’s face lights up.

 

“Well that’s great, I’m so glad to hear that. Of course he’s more than welcome here” Kumi states happily, turning her attention and cooing at Koda some more, bursting out laughing when Koda begins running around the table again, any and all thoughts of Ryo’s supposed ‘friend’ completely out of Kumi’s mind at the present moment.

 

Ryo breathes another sigh of relief as he slides down the wall, allowing himself to finally relax after today’s madness. The raven haired man was honestly flabbergasted by how well things had gone today. To be perfectly honest, today’s success was beginning to make Ryo nervous, knowing that this luck was bound to run out eventually and this whole thing was going to blow up in his face sooner or later. For now though, Ryo pushed all his thoughts and concerns to the side, allowing himself to enjoy the peace and calm of the evening. Hoping and praying to whoever would listen that things would continue going the way they have been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God this chapter was so much fucking fun to write. I’m really enjoying writing all the shenanigans Ryo and Koda get up to. They’re the best of friends now!!! For those of you who may be wondering, Kumi doesn’t know anything about Rie, or that Ryo has been hanging out with someone in his free time. She knows that he has a ‘friend’ now, but Ryo keeps any and all details about them under lock and key, not wanting Kumi to get involved with whatever the hell was going on between him and Rie. This may or may not lead to some conflict later on. Anyways, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 14. Bye!


	14. Discovering a Threat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

Ryo was awoken from his sleep by the sound of a flashing camera, followed by a girlish giggle. Ryo groaned, grabbing his pillow and shoving it over his face to block the uncomfortably bright light that streamed into his from from his open door.

 

It was now Monday, over a week had passed since Koda began staying with Ryo and Kumi instead of alone, by himself at Rie’s. The blonde in question would be returning from her near two week trip out of country late tonight, and Ryo would once again be heading over to Tokyo International Airport to pick her up.

 

Looking after Koda had gotten infinitely easier once Ryo brought the dog over to his place, and it didn’t take long for the spotted dog to fall seamlessly into the daily routine the Mashiba siblings followed. Ryo would deny it vehemently if somebody ever pointed it out to him, but the raven haired man had honestly grown kind of attached to Koda, in much the same way he had grown attached to his owner. Something about having Koda around made going about his everyday routine just a little less tedious and annoying than it usually was, and since bringing the dog to stay with him, Ryo found that he rarely left the house without bringing Koda along with him, something he never thought he’d ever have to admit to himself.

 

It definitely helped that Kumi absolutely adores Koda, and that Koda seems to feel the same way about her, especially since she was the one who always made sure that Koda had food and water in his bowls. The only real downside to this whole situation, was the fact that Kumi had started taking pictures of him and Koda, giggling to herself like Ryo couldn’t see her from across the room. In all honesty, he wasn’t terribly bothered by the fact that Kumi kept taking pictures of him whenever he and Koda were so much as near one another, but what he was bothered by was the fact that she had started taking them while he was sleeping too.

 

Ryo wasn’t entirely sure why, but for some reason Koda had deemed the only suitable place in the entire apartment for him to curl up and sleep in, was Ryo’s bed. This wouldn’t have been much of a problem if it weren’t for the fact that Ryo also slept in that bed, and could only just fit into it comfortably by himself. Needless to say that adding a 70 Lb American pitbull to the mix probably wasn’t going to make sleeping any easier. At least that’s what Ryo originally thought.

 

“Kumi, get out of my room” Ryo grumbled from underneath his pillow, lifting it to glare at his sister when she started giggling again. Koda didn’t seem particularly bothered by anything going on at the moment, as he continued snoring lightly, his legs tucked neatly under him to support his upper body, which was currently laying on Ryo’s stomach. The arm that wasn’t holding the pillow to Ryo’s face was thrown haphazardly over Koda’s back. Despite how heavy the spotted dog looked, Ryo was actually fairly comfortable like this, and the fact that Koda radiated head like a small furnace wasn’t a terrible thing either.

 

I think at this point it's pretty safe to say that Ryo has gotten over his irrational fear of Koda.

 

“Sorry Ryo, I didn’t mean to wake you” Kumi apologizes, not seeming the least bit apologetic as she continues giggling at the sight of Ryo and Koda cuddling together. Ryo rolls his eyes and places the pillow back over his face, wanting to get a few more minutes of sleep before he had to get up and start his day.

 

“You seem awfully chipper lately” Ryo comments through a mouthful of food at breakfast. Kumi looks up from her own food, a look of confusion on her face.

 

“Do I? Well, I guess I’ve just been in a good mood recently” Kumi says, smiling to herself. Ryo narrows his eyes at his younger sister, knowing that she was hiding something from him, but not entirely sure what it was just yet.

 

“Really, is there any particular reason for that?” Kumi immediately stiffens, a blush making its way onto her cheeks at her brother’s question.

 

“What? Oh no, no of course not. There's no real reason for it, I’ve just been a bit happier lately. That’s all.” 

 

“Oh really?”

 

“Y-ya, of course.” Kumi says, smiling at the taller male, her blush deepening as she refuses to meet Ryo’s gaze.

 

Oh ya, she’s definitely hiding something from him. Once Ryo finished his breakfast, grabbed his belongings, and put Koda on his leash, the raven haired man decided that it was about time he did a little check to make sure that there weren’t any pathetic little boys trying to charm their way into his little sister’s heart, and more importantly, her pants.

 

The day went by fairly quickly, but even with Koda present in the passenger’s seat, Ryo spent nearly the entirety of it an a terrible mood, trying his best not to think too much about Kumi, or the boy she was trying to hide from him. For as long as Ryo could remember, Kumi had always been pretty popular with the boys in her grade, and even a few that were a year or two above her, something that neither Ryo, nor their father, had been particularly pleased about.

 

Mashiba Eikichi had always been a kind, gentle, and soft spoken man, who was firm and rigid in his beliefs, but not intimidating or aggressive like his wife, and rarely, if ever, raised his voice during arguments or tense situations, instead, calmly and carefully arguing his point using diplomacy and intellect. There were only two things that Ryo inherited from his father, the first being the strands of black hair that grew on the top of his head, meanwhile the rest of his looks came directly from his mother, and the second being the understanding that, as her big brother, it was Ryo’s job to make sure that no stupid boy ever tried to take advantage of his little sister. When Ryo’s parents passed away three years ago, that desire only increased 10-fold as Ryo finally realized that he was the only person left who could look out for Kumi, and make sure that nobody ever tried to screw her over in the same way that everyone tried to screw him over.

 

It was already dark outside by the time Ryo arrived outside Yamanaka Bakery, but thankfully he had a little bit of time on his hands before he had to be at the airport to pick up Rie. Ryo stood behind a wall just across the street from the bakery, close enough to where he could easily see inside the bakery through the large windows, but far enough away that Kumi wouldn’t be able to see him, and if she did, she wouldn’t be able to tell it was him. The last thing Ryo needed was Kumi getting mad at him because he was trying to do his goddamn job as her older brother and protect her from pathetic little wannabes that made a habit of flocking around her.

 

Ever since he met Rie, and started spending a lot of his free time with her, Ryo had become lazy and inconsistent in checking up on her, as his mind was preoccupied with nothing but thoughts of Rie and the feelings he had for her. Now Ryo was paying the price for his selfishness and lack of diligence, because Kumi was hiding something from him, and it would be a cold day in hell before Ryo ever let anything, or anyone, pose a threat to his precious little sister and the little ounce of hope and happiness that she had managed to hold on to from before their lives were flipped upside down and smashed to the ground.

 

Peeking out from around the wall, Ryo could see Kumi standing behind the cash register, a slightly bored expression on her face. Based on the current traffic in the surrounding area, the bakery probably hadn’t received any customers recently, and as far as Ryo could tell, Kumi didn’t look particularly excited or like she was expecting to see anybody tonight. That’s odd. Maybe Ryo was wrong about there being a boy trying to get with his sister. After all, if this hypothetical loser was trying to date Kumi, then he’d probably make himself a regular at the place where she worked everyday, which would mean that Kumi would know that he was coming, and would be excited, probably even blushing too, as she waited for him to finally show up.

 

Just as Ryo was about to turn around and head to Rie’s, a young man wearing workout clothes walked into the bakery, and Kumi’s eyes lit up in excitement. Ryo grits his teeth and narrows his eyes as the little dork picks out a few things to buy before approaching the counter, putting on the ‘nice boy’ act while he says something to Kumi that makes her laugh. He knew it, Ryo knew that Kumi had been hiding something from him, and this pathetic little dweeb must be the dirty little secret she had been trying to keep under wraps so Ryo wouldn’t find out and try to scare him… wait, is that who he thinks it is?

 

Taking a closer look, Ryo tries to focus in as best he can on the face of the loser talking to his sister. His eyes go wide and his mouth drops open in shock and disbelief as he finally recognizes the face of Makunouchi Ippo, the featherweight boxer Fuji had introduced him to on the day of the Pro-license exam and was on the other side of the bracket in the Rookie King Tournament.

 

“Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me” Ryo spits as he watches the two teens interact.

 

“Come on Kumi, really? This fucking moron?” Ryo groaned in frustration, slapping his forehead in frustration at his sister’s horrible taste in boys.

 

This was bad. No, scratch that, this was the worst. This was actually the worst thing that Ryo could have possibly learned tonight. Of fucking course his sister had a crush on the idiot who just so happened to be one of his potential opponents for the final match of the Rookie King Tournament, of fucking course she did. This had to stop. Ryo had to go in there and make sure that pathetic little loser knew just who we was messing...

 

“ **Grrrrrrrrrrrr** .” Ryo’s thoughts were brought to an abrupt stop by the sound of growling. Looking down at Koda, Ryo was surprised to see that the spotted dog was all tensed up, his ears were pushed back flat against his head, and his top lip was raised in a nasty snarl, all the while Koda’s gaze was locked on to none other that Makunouchi. 

 

Seeing Koda react so aggressively at the sight of Makunouchi surprised Ryo, since he’d never seen him react in such a way, but it also gave him an idea. A wicked smile spreads across Ryo’s face as tugs Koda away from the spot behind the wall, a plan beginning to form in the back of his mind. 

 

Makunouchi was sitting on a bench at a nearby park, looking mighty pleased with himself as he munched on the roll of bread he bought from the bakery. Little did the poor sucker know that he had been followed by Ryo and Koda, who were both well hidden behind a wall of shrubs on the other end of the park, and that he was about to receive the biggest scare the little dweeb had ever known.

 

Ryo chuckles darkly to himself as he allows Koda to peek around the bush, his gaze immediately locking on to the young man. Ryo has to hold Koda back by the leash as the spotted pitbull begins growling menacingly at the boy across the park. Ryo smirks, pleased that Koda shares his dislike of the little twerp.

 

“Alright Koda, you know what to do” Ryo says taking Koda’s leash off, but holding on to him by the collar.

 

“Ready?” A moment of silence passes as Koda crouches down, waiting for his signal.

 

“Sick ‘em.” Letting go of the collar, Koda immediately darts out from behind the wall of shrubbery, making a beeline for Makunouchi. Ryo watches with endless pleasure and amusement as Makunouchi, finally noticing the barking dog headed straight for him, screams and shoots off the bench, dropping his bread roll on the ground as Koda sprints after him, hot on his tail. Ryo can no longer contain himself, bursting out into a fit of laughter as he watches Koda run circles around the tree Makunouchi had run up, barking all the while.

 

Ryo allowed Makunouchi’s torture to continue on for a few more minutes, knowing that Koda wouldn’t actually hurt the other boxer in any way, even if he did manage to get ahold of the little dork. Putting two fingers to his lips, Ryo let's out a loud, high pitched whistle, which does a fairly good job of catching Koda’s attention, who immediately stops barking and running circles around Makunouchi, and begins trotting back toward where Ryo was hiding, but not before grabbing the bread roll that Makunouchi had conveniently dropped earlier.

 

Ryo doesn’t even try to hide the smile on his face as Koda finally returns, his hard earned trophy sitting between his teeth.

 

“Good boy, Koda. Very good” Ryo praises, giving the dog a pat on the head as he enjoys his piece of victory bread. Peeking out once more from behind the bush, Ryo smirks triumphantly as he sees Makunouchi, still clutching the trunk of the tree he had been hiding in like his life depended on it. Ryo chuckles as he watches the little idiot lose his grip, falling out of the tree and landing on the ground with a loud ‘thud’. With his work done, Ryo grabs Koda’s leash and begins walking away.

 

“Come on Koda, let’s go get you a bone. You’ve earned it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this is the last chapter that focuses exclusively on Ryo and Koda, next chapter Rie will be back I promise. I don’t really have too much to say about this other than that I found Ryo using Koda to scare the shit out of Ippo to be absolutely HILAREOUS!!! Of course Koda would never actually hurt Ippo, after all Koda’s nothing but a sweetheart who wouldn’t even hurt a fly, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t help mommy’s ‘friend’ (read: daddy) deal with the loser who’s trying to mess with Kumi. Koda’s such a good boy isn’t he ;-)


	15. Pixie Cuts and Black Leather Jackets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

It was nearing 10 o’clock at night by the time Rie finally stepped outside of the airport, looking exhausted but all together happy to see Ryo.

 

“Hey you” she greets, smiling as she sets her bags down.

 

“Hey” Ryo greets in response, bending down to haul the considerably heavier suitcase into the trunk.

 

“Holy shit, what the hell do you have in here, bricks?” Rie chuckles as she throws her backpack in beside her suitcase.

 

“No not quite. I’ve bought a ton of souvenirs that I’m planning on giving to people at work and stuff. I’ve even got a little something in there for you, too.”

 

“Really?” Ryo asks curiously. “Like what?”

 

“Well, you’ll just have to wait and see until we get back to my place” the blonde says with a smile. Ryo rolls his eyes and heads over to the driver’s side of the car, opening the door and climbing inside. Rie does the same, but upon opening the passenger side door, she’s met with the sight of a large spotted pitbull sitting in the seat, chewing on a large bone.

 

“KODA!” Rie yells happily, practically throwing herself at the dog, who immediately drops his treat in favor of lunging at Rie, whimpering and licking all over her face as the blonde laughs, happily. Ryo watches the exchange from the driver’s seat, his facade of annoyance betrayed by the small smile that spreads across his lips. As much as Ryo enjoyed his time with Koda, it was definitely good to have Rie back.

 

“Oh Koda, I missed you so much, my precious baby boy. Were you good for Ryo while I was gone?” Rie coos at Koda, lifting the large dog up and setting him on her lap so she can climb into the passenger’s seat and close the door behind her, allowing Ryo to finally pull away from the curb and begin driving back to her apartment.

 

“Hey, what’s this?” Rie asks, leaning down and picking the bone that Koda dropped up, slightly confused.

 

“A bone” Ryo responds bluntly. Rie glares at him.

 

“I can see that, smartass. I meant where did it come from?”

 

“I bought it.”

 

“You bought this for Koda?”

 

“Ya. So what?” Ryo asks defensively. 

 

“Well, it’s nothing really I just…” the blonde trails off for a moment. “I guess I just didn’t expect it.”

 

“Why’s that?”

 

“Because as great as it would be, I know that the likelihood of you and Koda becoming friends and getting along within the span of only two weeks is pretty unlikely, and so now that I think about it, I guess I’m just a little surprised that you would do something like buy Koda a treat or, hell, bring him with you in the car to pick me up from the airport, considering how terrified you were of him when I left” Rie explains. Ryo simply shrugs his shoulders.

 

“You’d be surprised.” Rie raises a questioning eyebrow.

 

“Really? And why’s that?” A cocky smirk makes its way onto Ryo’s lips as he reaches over and gives Koda a scratch behind the ears. Rie’s eyes to widen in shock as Koda leans down against the armrest, nuzzling his head into Ryo’s side.

 

“Because I’m a spiteful bastard, and Koda’s a good boy who does what he’s told” Ryo says. Rie eyes the man warily.

 

“Did something happen while I was gone?” She asks carefully. Ryo merely shrugs his shoulders.

 

“No.”

 

“You’re lying to me.”

 

“Ya” Ryo chuckles as the blonde rolls her eyes and shakes her head in annoyed disbelief.

 

“You know what, I don’t care. I don’t know how or why you and Koda ended up this way, but something tells me I don’t want to know, so I’m just gonna leave it at that.” Rie states firmly, giving Koda his bone back.

 

“Ya, that might be for the best” Ryo mumbles under his breath.

 

“What was that?”

 

“Nothing” he says, a bit too hastily.

 

They arrive back at Rie’s apartment at around 10:30 in the evening. Ryo has to give Rie a small nudge once the car is parked to wake her up from the small nap she took while they were driving. Rie takes her backpack and Koda while Ryo deals with her suitcase, throwing it over his shoulder as they walk to the elevator, dropping it to the floor with a loud ‘thud’ once they are finally back in Rie’s apartment.

 

“Hey, careful with that. There’s fragile items in there” Rie scolds, taking off her jacket and hat and throwing them onto the back of the couch. Ryo chokes on his own spit at what he sees. Rie’s blonde hair, which had grown since they first met, reaching down to about her collar bone when she left, had been chopped off and shaved into a sort of pixie cut style. The sides and back of her head had been shaved down to about an inch in length, and while the strands on the top of her head were longer, maybe 4 or 5 inches, her hair was short enough that she couldn’t even tuck it behind her ear. Rie gave Ryo a curious look once she noticed his shocked expression.

 

“What?” She asks, snapping Ryo out of his dazed staring.

 

“Oh, uh, you’re hair… you cut it” Ryo says dumbly, resisting the urge to smack himself in the forehead at his ridiculously obvious statement. Rie lifts a hand up to the top of her head and runs it through her hair.

 

“Huh, I almost forgot about that. God, not even 24 hours back in the country and my friends had already convinced me to shave all my hair off again.”

 

“Again?” Ryo asks curiously.

 

“Oh ya, you think this is the first time I’ve ever done something like this?”

 

“How the hell should I know?”

 

“Good point. But don’t worry, I’m not going through a midlife crisis, or anything like that, I used to do stuff like this to my hair all the time back when I was a teen” Rie explained. The raven haired man looked at her curiously.

 

“Prove it” he said. Rie smiles and kneels down in front of her suitcase, unzipping the large bag before rummaging around in its contents, pulling a photo album out of the bottom and flipping to a specific page before handing it to Ryo to see. In the picture are several teens, all of them wearing eccentric clothes and hairstyles, but Rie stands out rather easily to Ryo. Her hair that was cropped in a similar way as it was now, but dyed black with blue tips and spiked up, giving teen Rie a very ‘punk rock’ look.

 

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?” Rie yells angrily as Ryo bursts out laughing, unable to contain himself.

 

“What the hell is that? You got a porcupine on the top of your head or what?” Ryo laughs, pointing at the ridiculous hairstyle Rie is sporting in the picture. Rie glares menacingly at the raven haired man, snatching the photo album out of his grasp as he nearly doubles over in laughter.

 

“It’s called having spiked hair, and it was  **cool** thank you very much.”

 

“Oh, is that what you call it?” Ryo teases, reaching over to snatch the photo album back and flip through more pages of photos, laughing whenever Rie’s hairstyle changes into something equally as ridiculous and funny looking as the one before.

 

“Ya, it is what we call it” Rie snaps, snatching her hat up from the couch and shoving it over her short hair. Ryo sighs and rolls his eyes when he sees this.

 

“Hey, stop that” he demands, receiving only a glare and a middle finger in response. Tossing the photo album back on the suitcase and walking over to the blonde, pulling the hat off her head.

 

“Hey, give that back” Rie demands, jumping up and down in an attempt to reach her stolen hat, which Ryo is holding high above her head.

 

“Then stop being a big baby” Ryo says, flicking Rie in the forehead. The blonde groans in frustration.

 

“I’m not being a big baby, you’re the one who said my hair looked stupid.”

 

“I didn’t say your hair looked stupid, I said the colored porcupine you had in that picture looked stupid, that’s different” Ryo defended.

 

“You don’t like my hair, do you?”

 

“I didn’t say that.”

 

“But you implied it.”

 

“No I didn’t.”

 

“But you’re not denying it.”

 

“Because I’m too busy arguing against your stupid logic.”

 

“Give me my hat back.”

 

“No.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because you don’t need it.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because your hair looks beautiful that’s why?” Ryo regrets saying that as soon as the words leave his mouth. Panic begins to spread throughout Ryo’s body as he watches Rie’s expression shift from tired and mad to shocked and delighted, a smile begins to spread across her face, accompanied by a light blush.

 

“You… you think my hair is beautiful?” Rie asks, looking up at Ryo with a curious expression. The raven haired man stares at her for a moment, unsure of how to respond.

 

I mean, it wasn’t like what he said had been a lie, in fact Ryo had meant it when he said that her hair looked beautiful, because it did. This new haircut made her honey-colored eyes stand out more, no longer lost beneath a wall of blonde hair, made her face look more angular and less round looking, and overall it made Rie look more defiant, more rambunctious, and more intimidating than she was before, and Ryo really liked that for some strange reason. Maybe the haircut just suited her naturally defiant and rambunctious personality better than the bob cut did. Or maybe Ryo had more of a thing for short hair than he initially thought. Regardless of the reason, Ryo liked the haircut, but had to decide whether or not he wanted Rie to know that, and fast. 

 

“Uh, well…” he trailed off, trying to think of a way to back out of this mess before it got too bad. A thought crosses Ryo’s mind. It’s not a great idea, hell it’s not even a good idea, but Ryo’s track record for backing his way out of sticky situations wasn’t the best thus far, so what if instead of trying to deny what he said, or pretend like he didn’t say it… what if he just went for it?

 

‘This is easily the dumbest thing I’ve ever done’ Ryo says to himself. ‘Of well, here goes fuck all.’

 

“Uh ya, actually, I do, uh… think you’re hair is beautiful” Ryo says, already cringing at how sappy and awkward he sounded. Rie didn’t seem to notice this however, as a shy smile makes its way across her lips and her cheeks turn the faintest shade of red at Ryo’s compliment.

 

“Really? You mean that?” The blonde asks, looking up at the taller man with those big honey-colored eyes that Ryo could easily get lost in if he wasn’t careful. 

 

“Well ya… why wouldn’t I?” Ryo asks, resisting the urge to lick his incredibly dry lips as his heart pounds in his ears. Ryo’s brow furrows in confusion as Rie’s smile fades slightly and she turns away from him.

 

“Well that’s a first” the blonde says somberly, leaning against the back of the couch, avoiding Ryo’s gaze. The raven haired man frowns.

 

“What do you mean?” He asks, confused. Rie chuckles slightly.

 

“Very rarely do people find anything about me to be ‘beautiful’, Ryo. Especially when I look the way  **I** like to look, you know what I mean?” 

 

“No, I don’t” Ryo admits, honestly. Rie sighs.

 

“It means that people only think I’m pretty when I look and dress a certain way, and anything that deviates from that norm makes me ugly according to them” the blonde states harshly. Ryo stands in silence for a moment, unsure of how to respond to that. What the hell did she mean by all that? And what did she mean by saying she was ugly? Rie was a lot of things in Ryo’s mind, but ugly most certainly wasn’t one of them.

 

Ryo casts a glance down at the woolen hat in his hands, which Rie had been using to cover her hair when she came out of the airport, as well as when Ryo had been teasing her about that stupid dye job she had in that picture. Maybe they really weren’t so different from one another. Maybe Rie had her own insecurities that caused her to doubt herself and doubt whether or not she deserves something. Maybe… 

 

“Well they're a bunch of fucking idiots if you ask me” Ryo says, moving to stand next to Rie, leaning against the couch. The blonde looks up at him in surprise.

 

“They could probably use a new pair of glasses too, if the first thing they think when they look at you is ugly” he continues, not having the slightest idea as to what he was doing, but going for it anyways.

 

“What do you mean?” Rie asks, a glimmer of something shining in her eyes.

 

“When I was a kid, my mom used to have this saying, and it went ‘he who dies happy dies knowing he lived a life without regrets, but he who dies unhappy dies knowing he lived his life through someone else’s permission’. It basically means that the person who does whatever the fuck they want dies happy because they lived their life by their own rules and standards. The people who die unhappy are unhappy because they let someone else control their entire life for them, they never went out and did what they wanted to because they were afraid of what other people might think, and so when they die, they realize that they wasted their entire life trying to make other people happy and ended up faking the whole thing because they couldn’t be true to themselves” Ryo explains, casting Rie a glance.

 

“The way I see things, what I or anybody else thinks about your hair doesn’t really matter, ‘cuz its your hair and you can do whatever the fuck you want to it, even if that means you end up with a bad dye job.” Rie bursts out laughing at Ryo’s reference to the picture she showed him.

 

“Alright, alright, I admit the black and blue together might have been a bit much.”

 

“Did you like it?” Ryo asks curiously.

 

“You know, I did actually. I fucking loved that style so much that I had it all throughout high school” Rie responds.

 

“Then fuck it. You’ve never given a shit about what I have to say so why should you start now?”

 

“That’s not true, I do care about what you have to say… just not everything you have to say” Rie defends, causing Ryo to chuckle lightly.

 

“You are right though. I mean, I do like it, so I guess I shouldn’t worry about what others say about it” Rie says, more to herself than anyone else.

 

“If it makes you feel any better” Ryo begins, handing the blonde her hat back. “I really meant it when I said your hair looks beautiful.”

 

The smile and light blush returns to Rie’s face as she gently takes the hat from Ryo’s hand.

 

“I know” she says, tossing it back onto her suitcase.

 

“OH, that reminds me” the blonde says suddenly, kneeling down and beginning to riffle through her suitcase, pulling out a bundle wrapped in brown paper after a short moment and handing it to Ryo.

 

“What’s this?” The raven haired man asks as he accepts the parcel, turning it over once or twice.

 

“A gift. A little something to say thanks for watching Koda while I was away. Go on, open it” Rie says, practically bouncing up and down as Ryo unlaced the string holding the package together and removes the paper on top, allowing a large black leather jacket to unfold in his hands. Ryo’s eyes go wide.

 

“Well, what do you think?”

 

What did he think? Ryo thought a lot of things as he looked down at the authentic leather jacket in his hands. When he was a teen, Ryo had begged his parents for a jacket not too different from this one, but they had always been so ridiculously expensive that they were well out of their budget, even with his dad’s decent wages.

 

“The jacket you have now was starting to look a little worn out, so I figured I’d get you something you could actually use. My mom tried to convince me to get you something made out of tweed but, you always struck me as more of a leather kind of guy” Rie says, a bright smile across her face.

 

“Rie… how much did this cost you?” Ryo asks, looking up at the blonde.

 

“It doesn’t matter how much I paid, do you like it?”

 

“I mean… ya, I like it but, this must have cost you a small fortune” Ryo says, incredulously. No one had ever given Ryo a gift quite like this before, not even close. The nicest thing Ryo ever received from someone who wasn’t a member of his family was a glass figurine he’d gotten from a gift exchange back in elementary school, and he’d lost little thing that years ago.

 

“Rie I can’t accept this” the raven haired man says, holding the jacket out to the blonde, who looks like she was expecting this reaction.

 

“Oh come on Ryo, I got it just for you. Just try it on won’t you, please” Rie begs. “For me.”

 

Ryo opens his mouth to say something but finds that nothing will come out. Rie looks at him with those big honey-brown eyes of hers and Ryo finds himself having much the same reaction as he did when Koda gave him a similar look. He caved.

 

“Alright fine, you win” Ryo laments, shrugging his jacket off and tossing it on the back of the couch. Rie claps her hands in excitement, bouncing up and down, as Ryo pulls the black leather jacket over his shoulders.

 

“Oh my GOD! It looks so good on you!” Rie cheers, and for once, Ryo has to agree with her. The jacket looks and fits perfectly, and the material feels durable but comfortable. Ryo found himself loving the jacket more and more with each passing second.

 

“How does it feel?” Rie asks after a moment of silence.

 

“It feels great” Ryo admits, sticking his hands into the pockets.

 

“Good! I was a little worried that it wouldn’t fit right because I had to guess what your size was, but it looks like I was right on the money” the blonde says, running her fingers along the material. Ryo opens his mouth to protest again, say something about how he couldn’t accept this jacket, about how he didn’t deserve it, about how Rie shouldn’t waste his money on him, but the words die before they ever reach his tongue, and the raven haired man merely stands there, letting Rie tug and pull at the material however she pleased.

 

“Rie” Ryo says, catching the blonde’s attention. “Thanks.”

 

A smile spreads its way across Rie’s lips.

 

“You’re welcome, Ryo.”

 

The two friends fall into a period of comfortable silence as Rie begins unpacking her bag while Ryo simply watches her. Ryo still has the leather jacket on when he bids Rie a good night and walks out the door, knowing that the blonde wouldn’t take it back no matter how much he tried to convince her to.

 

As the raven haired man exits the apartment building and makes his way home, he can’t help but notice how much better his new jacket was at keeping away the biting chill of the mid-October night, than his old one was. Something told Ryo that he was going to have this jacket for a very long time. Hopefully the same could be said about the person who gave it to him, as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, Rie is back!!!! Not really entirely sure as to what’s going on in this chapter, but I think it’s cute. Don’t you just hate it when you’re making fun of someone for the stupid hair-do they had when they were in highschool, but then you accidentally call them beautiful. Ya Ryo hates that too. For some reason I always liked the idea of Ryo wearing leather jackets, so because this is my self-indulgent fanfic story, I decided to fulfill my fantasy and give him one, courtesy of Rie, who also really enjoys the look of Ryo in a black leather jacket! Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you think down in the comments below, and I hope to see you all very soon for chapter 16. Bye!!!


	16. Weight Management

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

Ryo felt like utter garbage.

 

This wasn’t particularly out of the ordinary for him however, considering that this was how he felt every time he had to go on a weight management plan. Ryo’s extra height and reach was useful to him during matches, but was a pain in the ass leading up to the fight because it meant that he had to lose an extra 5 to 10 Lbs that his competitors didn’t have to. But with only a little over a week left until his semi-final match in the Rookie King Tournament, Ryo didn’t really have much of a choice if he wanted to actually be allowed to fight the match.

 

Currently, Ryo was on his way to Rie’s apartment, with Koda trotting happily beside him. Despite Rie having returned from England and Koda gone back to living with her, Ryo continued his daily routine of bringing Koda with him to boxing practice, if only because having the spotted dog there meant that people were more willing to bug him instead of Ryo. Thankfully, Rie didn’t seem to mind this little arrangement, although she had been slightly confused when Ryo showed up after work one day and ‘borrowed’ Koda without much explanation.

 

Ryo let's himself in using the key he had neglected to give back to Rie once she returned from her trip, unclipping Koda’s leash and allowing the spotted dog to run into the other room in search of Rie. For a moment, Ryo considers just turning around and going home, but with everything going on with his weight management at the moment, Kumi was nothing short of a nervous wreck, constantly fretting and worrying over the fact that he wasn’t eating. Although Rie clearly had some concerns of her own regarding Ryo’s diet, she at least had enough sense to know when not to ask too many questions or push things further than they needed to be pushed, something that Ryo was greatly thankful for.

 

“How was training?” Rie asks as she emerges from the other room. Ryo shrugs.

 

“It was fine” he says, not really in the mood for conversation, but also not wanting to completely blow Rie off, since she had been nice enough to let Ryo hang around at her place basically whenever he wanted to. It was a pain in the ass, but Ryo supposed that basic conversation was the least he could offer since his only other alternative was to go home and have Kumi breathing down his shoulder all night long.

 

“Have you eaten at all today? You look a little pale” Rie notes, heading over to the fridge and pulling out a plate of leftovers for herself. 

 

“No, not yet” Ryo responds, meandering over and grabbing the apple that Rie had set out on the counter for him, biting into it. Another good thing about being over at Rie’s house while he was dieting, was that the blonde never shied away from eating even though Ryo himself couldn’t. Nothing wracked the raven haired man with guilt more than seeing Kumi eat like a pigeon while he was on weight management. He was the one dieting, not her, and yet no matter how much Ryo told Kumi that she should eat, he could never convince his sister to have more than a small handful of food, so he decided to just avoid the problem entirely and stay at Rie’s until he was certain that Kumi had eaten her own dinner. He wasn’t sure how much longer Kumi would believe that he was staying late at practice, but he’d take what he could get for now.

 

“Ryo are you feeling ok?” Rie asks, her voice laced with concern. 

 

“About as ok as I can feel, at this point” Ryo responds, chucking the core of his finished apple into the nearby trash bin, doing his best to ignore the persistent nausea that permeated throughout this abdomen, unsure if the sickening feeling in his gut is due to his body accepting, or rejecting, the apple he just fed it. Hopefully it’s the former instead of the latter.

 

“Do you think you should have another apple?” Ryo shakes his head, leaning over to rest his forehead against the table.

 

“Can’t.” Is all he says. 

 

“Ryo I know you don’t like it when I bug you, but you look like you’re about to be sick.” Ryo takes a deep breath, lifting his head from the table to run a hand along his face.

 

“I feel like I might be sick” Ryo admits, a small voice in the back of his head beginning to question whether the torture he was putting himself through was actually worth it. 

 

‘Of course it’s worth it’ Ryo told himself. ‘This has to be worth something, right?”

 

A moment of silence passes before Rie gets up, placing her dirty dish in the sink and putting the container of leftovers back in the fridge.

 

“Well, if you aren’t going to eat anymore and you’re not going home just yet, then take a glass of water and go lay down on the couch for a little while” Rie instructs, and for once, Ryo simply does what he’s told, taking the glass of water from Rie’s outstretched hand and heading over to the couch. The little sips of water he takes helps relieve his nausea a little bit, but the last thing Ryo wants is to accidentally make himself sick all over Rie’s nice furniture, so he puts the glass down on the coffee table and flops onto the couch, his weary bones practically melt into the soft material.

 

Ryo leans his head back against the armrest and stares at the ceiling, trying not to think too much about how sick he feels. When did Coach Toho say his body should start adjusting to the weight management, again? Ryo really hopes that it’s soon, because at this rate, he’s not sure he’s gonna even make it to the match, much less do it all over again for the next one.

 

Ryo hums in response to something Rie said, thought he’s not quite sure what it was, entirely. Something about next weekend, maybe? Or was it something to do with work?

 

With each passing second Ryo can feel his eyelids getting heavier and heavier, and he briefly wonders if he should sit up, take a few more sips of water, go into the bathroom and splash his face with water, or something, but he doesn’t do that, he doesn’t do any of that. At this point in time, Ryo’s body and mind are too exhausted from being overworked and undernourished over the course of the past few days to even think about getting off of this couch. The distant sound of Rie’s voice is the last thing Ryo hears as he allows his eyes to close, only for a moment he tells himself, and he slips into a deep and unresponsive sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really much to say about this chapter, just Ryo feeling like garbage and Rie looking out for her man. Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you think down in the comments below, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 17. Bye!


	17. Making Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

“Ry…”

 

“...yo…”

 

“RYO”

 

The raven haired man jolts awake at the sound of his voice, followed by a rough shake of his shoulders.

 

“WHAT? What is it? What’s wrong? Huh, oh…” Ryo stammers in confusion, blinking tiredly around the room until his eyes finally focused on Rie, standing next to the couch, wearing an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants, likely her pajamas.

 

“Hey you. Feeling better?”  She greets casually, not waiting for a response before she heads over to the kitchen. Ryo runs his hand across his face, rubbing at his eyes.

 

“Ya, a little bit” he mumbles in response, which isn’t a complete lie. He did feel a little better than he had before he went to sleep, the unbearable nausea having faded to a dull ache in the pit of his stomach, but now he just felt drained, exhaustion washing over him in waves that no amount of sleep would be able to pull him up from. Ryo groans, flopping back down against the pillow and pulling the blanket back over… wait? Pillow? Blanket?

 

Looking down at himself, Ryo noticed that a large blue blanket that had been carefully draped over him, a soft, white pillow that had been placed under his head, and that Ryo was still very much laying on Rie’s couch. The raven haired man blinked in confusion, perplexed as to why Rie had given him a blanket and pillow when he’d only been asleep for… oh no.

 

“Rie” Ryo calls, catching the blonde’s attention as she’s fishing around for something in the cabinets.

 

“Ya?” 

 

“What time is it?” 

 

“Um, looks like it’s around 7:15.”

 

“7:15 in the…?” Rie turns to the raven haired man in confusion.

 

“In the morning?” Ryo remains silent for a moment before his brain finally catches up with his ears.

 

“SHIT” he yells, throwing the blanket off of him and getting off the couch, slipping on the hardwood and hitting the ground with a grunt before scrambling up and bolting over to his bag, nearly tripping on Koda, who had been lying on the ground next to the couch.

 

“Dammit Rie, why didn’t you wake me up?” Ryo snapped. 

 

“I did try to wake you up. 3 times” the blonde defends. “But the only response I got from you was a bunch of random mumbling in between ‘5 more minutes’ and ‘leave me alone, Kumi’. I felt bad trying to wake you up when you looked so tired, so I gave up after the third attempt and just let you sleep.”

 

Ryo groans in frustration as he rifles through his bags in search of his work uniform and workout clothes which, much to Ryo’s growing annoyance, aren’t in his bag.

 

“What the fuck” Ryo says to himself, beginning to pull things out of his bag as he searches for his missing clothes.

 

“What’s wrong?” Rie asks.

 

“My clothes… they’re not in my bag. I know I had them when I came over last night, but their not here. They’re fucking gone” Ryo says, his frustration with today rising higher and higher with each passing second.

 

“Oh you mean these?” Rie asks, holding up a small pile of folded clothes which, upon further inspection, are the exact clothes that Ryo is trying to find.

 

“Ya those are them” Ryo says with a sigh of relief as he gets up off the ground and walks over to Rie, taking his clothes from her. A thought crosses his mind.

 

“Did you… take these from my bag?” Ryo asks warily, unsure how he feels about the idea of Rie going through his bag and touching his stuff. Rie shrugs her shoulders.

 

“I did a load of laundry last night, and I figured since you wouldn’t have time to go home and get a fresh set before work, I just took yours and threw them in with mine. I hope that’s ok.” Ryo’s gaze switches back and forth between the blonde standing in front of him and the pile of clean clothes in his hand.

 

“Oh, uh… ya, I guess that’s fine” Ryo says slowly, a puzzled expression etched across his face. Rie smiles at him.

 

“Good. Now take this” she says, shoving something else into Ryo’s arms. It’s a towel.

 

“Go shower” the blonde instructs, turning on her heel and returning to the kitchen to continue making breakfast for herself. Ryo stares down at the towel.

 

“Why?” He asks, his confusion growing.

 

“Because you smell like a dead yak and the hot water should help wake you up a little bit. Just do me a favor and don’t slip on the floor, I really don’t feel like calling an ambulance this early in the morning because you fell and cracked your skull open against the side of the tub.” Ryo simply nods his head, feeling far too tired and drained to even attempt to understand anything Rie had just said, much less try to argue her. The raven haired man throws his uniform and workout clothes in his bag, before heading into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him.

 

Showering in someone else’s bathroom felt very strange, Ryo decided, as he turned the shower faucet on and stepped inside. Especially when the person’s bathroom you’re showering in just so happens to be the person who you’re kinda-sorta in love with. Thankfully, Ryo’s able to push those thoughts and feelings aside in favor of turning the faucet all the way to the  **HOT** setting, delighted when actual steaming hot water began spraying out from the faucet, covering Ryo’s entire body and providing an almost blissful relief to his aching muscles. The shower water back at Ryo’s place was often tepid at best, and freezing cold at worst. Although he wasn’t terribly picky when it came to most things regarding his living situation, Ryo would be lying if he said he wouldn’t kill to be able to come home after a long, stressful day and wash all his problems away with a nice, long, mildly scalding shower. Hopefully Rie wouldn’t mind if Ryo started borrowing her shower a bit more often, now that he knew how great her water heater was.

 

Once he was finished washing up, Ryo turned the shower off and dried himself as best he could using the towel Rie had given him, before putting back on his day clothes, which also happened to be the clothes he slept in the night before, in this case.

 

Rie was already dressed and ready for work by the time Ryo stepped out of the bathroom, feeling a lot better now, than he had when he first woke up. The blonde was currently working her way through a bowl of oatmeal, skimming through today’s newspaper while she fed herself. Ryo approaches her.

 

“Where do you want me to put this?” He asks, holding up his used towel. Rie points to a door on the other side of the refrigerator.

 

“Throw it in there, I’ll deal with it later.” Ryo does as he’s told, opening the door to the closet where the washer and dryer were kept, throwing the towel into the hamper jammed between the washer and the closet wall, before finally closing the door and heading over to where Rie was standing.

 

“Want some?” The blonde offers, holding out her spoon for the taller man to take. Ryo shakes his head.

 

“No thanks, I’m not hungry.” Ryo’s stomach rumbles loudly as soon as those words leave his mouth.

 

“Well that’s a lie if I’ve ever heard one” Rie says bluntly, thankfully not noticing how red Ryo’s ears had just turned.

 

“I’m on a weight management plan.”

 

“I’m aware of that. But I’m also aware of the fact that you fell into a food depraved coma on my couch last night, and if I hadn’t been able to wake you up from said coma this morning, you’re ass would be in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. So while I understand the importance of you maintaining your dieting regimen, I’m almost positive that you’d rather chop your own head off, than have to drop out of the tournament because you starved yourself too much, and had to be admitted to the hospital.”

 

“Rie I-”

 

“ **Just shut up and open your mouth** ” the blonde orders through gritted teeth, her tone of voice indicating that this was not an open discussion. Ryo heaves a sigh and rolls his eyes but ultimately does as he’s told, allowing Rie to shovel a rather large spoonful of her oatmeal into Ryo’s mouth. The porridge is thick and viscous, and would require little chewing if it weren’t for the bits of granola and fruit that were mixed in to it. It tasted sweet and fruity and was full of all sorts of things that Ryo knew he definitely wasn’t supposed to be eating, and yet he had to consciously resist the urge to pluck the bowl out of Rie’s hands and shovel the remainder of the oatmeal down his throat. It was amazing how something as simple as a bowl of oatmeal could taste so delicious when the only things you’ve been allowed to eat for the past week and a half were apples and protein drinks.

 

Ryo ends up having 3 more bites of oatmeal before the bowl is completely finished, unable to deny himself any longer, not when his stomach grumbled audibly every couple of seconds, demanding to be given at least some sort of sustenance. Ryo’s face turned as red as his ears when Rie started laughing at him.

 

It wasn’t until Rie had turned away to rinse off her dirty dish that Ryo noticed just how… domestic, this whole morning had been. Waking up in Rie’s apartment, going about their mornings in the same space, Rie nagging him about not eating, Rie threatening him into eating, and having this clothes washed and folded for him while he was passed out on the couch the night before, on top of all that. It was all so oddly domestic and so much like how most married couples went about their mornings, that Ryo wasn’t quite sure what to think about it.

 

Sure, Rie didn’t have to do all that stuff for him, after all, it wasn’t like the blonde was obligated to look after Ryo and take care of him, or anything like that. And yet, like with most things, Rie did it anyways, and she never complained about it, nor seemed to mind doing it, either. Ryo can’t, for the life of him, even begin to fathom why Rie even bothers to put up with him half the time, much less why she puts effort into caring about his health and well-being. It’s not like anybody else had ever bothered doing it before, so the fact that someone like Rie was the first to do it made things all the more complicated.

 

It was nice, Ryo ultimately decided, having Rie look after him like this. He tried to deny it as much as possible, but deep down he knew it was true. It wasn’t like Rie babied him or anything, like how he’d seen in most relationships, where the girlfriend/wife spent a disproportionate amount of time tending to and coddling her boyfriend/husband, despite the fact that both of them were adults. It’s just, the fact that Rie cared enough about Ryo to do these sorts of things for him, even though she has no real reason to, is… well, it’s nice, it feels good, it makes a warm and sickeningly sweet feeling spread throughout Ryo’s chest just thinking about it. And he’s grateful for everything she’s done for him, mind you. The only problem is that he’s just not sure how to express his gratitude in a way that says ‘ _ Thank you for putting up with my bullshit and for making sure I don’t end up dead in a ditch’ _ and not ‘ _I’m a very cynical and closed off person due to my past traumas, and you are the only person who brings joy into my meaningless existence_ ’ or ‘ _ I lay awake at night fantasizing about us getting married and growing old together _ ’ or  worst of all ‘ _ Hey I like your boobs, can I stick my face in between them _ ’.

 

As much as Ryo liked the idea of that last thought, even he wasn’t dumb enough to think he could get away with something like that, not with Rie he couldn't. But the more he thought about it, the more he started thinking of ways he could potentially thank Rie for being such a good friend, while maybe also maybe hinting at the idea that Ryo was looking for something more. 

 

A movie maybe? No, too simple, and didn’t really allow for all that much conversation.

 

A coffee date? No, they already did stuff like that. Not to mention that Ryo would have to outright state it was a date if they just went out for coffee, and he was not looking to embarrass himself in the event Rie denied his explicit request for a date.

 

Goddammit, what was something Ryo could do that would a) show Rie that he was grateful for all the shit she did for him, b) was something different from what they normally did, and c) could be passed off as just a thing between friends if it turned out that Rie wasn’t interested in him, but could just as easily be passed off as an actual date, in the event Rie was interested in him?

 

Dinner, maybe? Ya, that sounded like a good idea. It would have to wait until after he won the All Japan Rookie King Tournament, but dinner wasn’t a horrible place to start. Ryo could take Rie out to a fancy, but not too expensive restaurant, treat her to dinner, figure out if the blonde was into him, confess his feelings to her, be  **not** horribly and humiliatingly rejected, and then when all was said and done and once Rie was finally his, and his alone, to have and hold and love and cherish and spend the rest of his goddamn not-so-miserable-anymore life with, then they could make out on the couch all night long.

 

…

 

Ok that last part might be a bit of a stretch, but everything else was pretty solid in terms of an actual plan. Now all Ryo needed to do was figure out some of the details, set everything up, and pray to whatever god would take pity on him, that he didn’t end up making a total fucking moron out of himself, oh and also that Kumi didn’t find out, but mostly the moron thing.

 

“HELLO, EARTH TO MASHIBA RYO” Rie yelled, yanking Ryo from his inner thoughts. He flinches, hoping that he wasn’t thinking so loud that Rie could somehow know what was going on inside his head.

 

“We’re gonna be late for work. Are you coming?” The blonde asks while she puts her shoes on and opens the front door. Ryo blinks.

 

“Uh, ya, I’m coming” he replies, shoving the rest of his belongings into his bag, putting his shoes on, and following Rie out the door.

 

“What were you thinking about just now?” The blonde asks curiously as the elevator descends down to the first floor. Ryo casts a glance out the corner of his eye.

 

“Don’t worry about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk, this is the new chapter. Enjoy it, comment, thanks, bye!


	18. Change of Plans...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

It’s amazing how quickly plans can go astray for people like Ryo. Breaking and falling apart, slipping right between his fingers, forced to watch as everything he’s worked and suffered so hard for fades away, as though it were never there to begin with. At least that’s how he feels, laying on his back in one of the medical rooms, a wet towel placed over his eyes, his entire body throbbing and aching in pain, while Kumi cried in a stool next to him, and Rie, well… he’d seen her somewhere in the crowd just as the match was starting, cheering as loudly as she could for her friend. She was probably long gone by now though, disgusted and appalled by how pathetic he looked in that match, finally realizing just how unworthy Ryo was of her time, kindness, and friendship. Ryo didn’t even blame her for taking off, hell, Ryo would have taken off on himself if he could. But he can’t, so he’s forced to just lay here and think.

 

It wouldn’t be too bad if this was how things with Rie ended. Ryo would be hurt, that much was certain. He was already in too deep to not feel anything when the blonde inevitably ditched him, but out of all the ways his time with Rie could have ended, he supposed that this one was probably one of the better alternatives. Because after that match, there was no way in hell Rie would ever want to speak with him ever again, Ryo just knew it.

 

Accepting things as they were had never been one of Ryo’s strong suits, and probably never would be, but in this very moment, Ryo found himself accepting how things had turned out, even if he didn’t like it. He’d been brimming with confidence earlier today as he walked into Korakuen Hall, ready to beat the ever living shit out of Makunouchi, show Kumi just how much of a fucking loser that kid was, move on to the All Japan Rookie Final, beat the shit out of that guy, show Rie just how awesome and amazing he was, and then finally, he’d be able to take control of his own life, and be able to move on from all the terrible things that happened to him all those years ago. 

 

But of course, the universe always had to have the final laugh.

 

Ryo never would have guessed that Makunouchi was as strong as he was. Sure the kid was muscular and he looked powerful in the tapes that Fuji had given him, but the sheer amount of destruction that wimpy looking idiot caused was simply out of this world. Despite how much he disliked the kid, even Ryo had to admit that the kid had serious punching power, and the idiotic determination needed to bring it out to its full capacity. Naturally, Ryo had been devastated when he lost, unable, unwilling to accept that he’d been beaten, his plans for the future ripped from his hands and smashed to pieces on the ground. Right now though, Ryo simply accepted it, assuring Kumi that he would simply pick up the pieces, and try again some other time, to which his sister, surprisingly, seemed to agree with, albeit rather reluctantly.

 

The room was quiet. It was even quieter now, since Kumi had left a few minutes ago to fetch Ryo a glass of water, making him promise not to move while she was gone. He rolled his eyes and sighed, a bit annoyed by how nagging she sounded, but he supposed he should be grateful that Kumi was always there for him like this. After all, with Rie gone, she was once again, all he had left.

 

The door to the medical room opened, signaling that Kumi had finally returned. Ryo didn’t bother moving just yet, knowing that Kumi would get mad at him if he tried getting up before he was supposed to. She hesitates at the door for a moment, before the sound of footsteps indicate she’s walking toward him. She stops just in front of the bench. The towel is removed from Ryo’s face and the raven haired man opens his eyes. He sees blonde hair.

 

“Rie” Ryo says in disbelief, shooting up from the bench to face the blond fully. Surprisingly, her face didn’t hold disgust, nor contempt, nor disinterest or repulsion, and not even the slightest amount of pity for the man sitting in front of her. She looked… worried, and maybe even a little afraid, as she looks up and down Ryo’s body, taking note of every cut and bruise he’d received in his previous fight.

 

“Hey you” she says softly, her hand moving to rest on his shoulder, but wavering just before she touches it. 

 

“Hey” is all he can manage to say. Silence falls over them for a moment.

 

“I came to see your match! Well, I guess that’s pretty obvious, since I’m standing here. But I saw the match, and even though you lost, it was really good. I honestly thought you had him when you picked your arm back up and nailed him with your chopping right combo, but…” Rie trails off, dropping her hands to her sides, unsure of what else to say. Ryo simply stares at her.

 

What the hell was she still doing here? She saw the match, didn't she? Ryo lost, and rather handily according to some people. So why the hell was Rie still here, and more importantly, why was she still talking to him?

 

“How do you feel?” The blonde asks. Ryo sighs, dropping his gaze to the floor.

 

“I’m… I’m not doing too great, right now” he admits, tiredly. Rie places a hand on his back, and the cool touch of her skin against his feels nothing short of heavenly. Ryo refrains from leaning into the touch, refrains from reaching out and wrapping his arms around the blonde, pulling her into his arms, allowing her touch to soothe every ache and pain he feels, and never letting her go, refrains from doing anything except sitting there, and accepting the fact that Ryo didn’t deserve her. He never did. And he never would.

 

“Ryo, look at me” the blonde instructs after a moment of charged silence. Her voice is soft, but carries firmness with it. Ryo does not raise his gaze from the floor.

 

“Ryo, I said look at me” she instructs again, and more than anything Ryo wants to look at her, but he doesn’t allow himself to. Rie places a hand under his chin, forcing Ryo to look at her. A soft smile spreads across her face when their eyes meet.

 

“It was a great match, and I mean that honestly. A couple more punches and the guy holding the victory trophy would have been you, but unfortunately things don’t always work out the way you want them to.” Ryo sighs, nodding his head.

 

“Ya, I’m well aware of that fact” he says, running a hand through his sweaty and disgusting hair.

 

“You know, I was thinking about something. In fact I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, probably since before the Miyata fight” the blonde begins. 

 

‘Here it comes’ Ryo thinks to himself. ‘The crushing let down and promise of always being friends, followed by never hearing from her again, once we leave this room.’

 

“Ya?” The raven haired man says, more so to just get all this over with than because he wants to know what Rie has to say.

 

“Well, I’ve just been thinking that, with everything you’ve been going through lately and with how dedicated you are to boxing and your job and all these other things, and just how little time and energy you have, especially when you have matches coming up…”

 

‘Oh god she’s making a fucking speech out of it.’

 

“Uh-huh?” Ryo says, preparing himself for the worst.

 

“I think it would be best if you went up a weight class.” 

 

Silence follows the end of Rie’s statement, which confuses Ryo because she still hasn’t gotten to the part where she says she wants nothing to do with him anymore.

 

“Ok… and?” Ryo asks, fishing for more. Rie just shrugs her shoulders.

 

“That’s it, really. I’ve just been thinking how you make yourself sick every time you have to go on a diet for your matches, so going up a weight class might be better for you because you don’t have to put off as much weight before each match. I don’t know, it seemed like a good idea when I first thought of it, but now that I’m saying it aloud, it sounds kind of dumb, doesn’t it.”

 

“No, not really. I mean, I never thought about it before, but it probably wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to go up a weight class” Ryo admits, nodding his head.

 

“And…”

 

‘Ah, here we go.’ 

 

“I, uh… it’s funny really, I was actually talking about this the night you accidentally fell asleep on the couch, and you seemed to be listening to me for most of it, but I think you passed out before I finished. But what I was saying was, If you go up a weight class, and don’t have to worry about watching what you eat all the time, maybe… you’d be willing to take me out to dinner one of these days?” Ryo’s eyes widen and his jaw drops open slightly, unsure if he heard Rie correctly.

 

“What?” Ryo asks dumbly, looking up at the blonde with a bewildered expression. Rie smiles shyly at him.

 

“I mean… if you want to that is” she continues, noticing the raven haired man’s hesitation.

 

Ryo couldn’t believe it. He honestly couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Rie wanted to go out with him? She wasn’t ditching him, even though she saw him lose the match, to a wimpy little geek like Makunouchi, no less? Sure, Ryo had been planning on taking Rie out to dinner after he won the All Japan Rookie title, but he’d quickly abandoned those plans after he lost, not wanting to ask her out only for her to say yes just because she pitied him, or something similar. He felt like a bit of an idiot for not paying attention to what Rie was saying before, when he passed out on her couch, maybe then he wouldn’t have had to stress so much about this whole thing and base his entire ‘plan’, if you could even call it such, solely around the idea that he won the entire Rookie King Tournament. But regardless of that whole debacle, maybe it wasn’t all over for him. Maybe, if he played his cards right, and didn’t fuck anything else up, Ryo still had a chance with Rie. After all, the blonde clearly wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, if her still being here now was any indication, so she must be staying because she wants to… right?

 

‘Don’t just sit there you idiot, say something to her’ Ryo hisses at himself, willing himself to speak.

 

“Uuuuuuh…”

 

‘God you are so fucking stupid, you know that?’ His inner monologue groans.

 

Rie laughs at the raven haired man’s speechlessness.

 

‘Talk. To. Her.’ The monologue growls.

 

“Uh, ya that sounds like a great idea” Ryo says. “Dinner, I mean. Well, going up a weight class isn’t the worst idea either but, I was talking about dinner just now, so…”

 

‘Oh god.’

 

“I’m just gonna stop talking now” Ryo finishes.

 

‘Yes, please do.’ Rie laughs again.

 

“Well, alrighty then. It’s a date.”

 

“Ya… a date” Ryo echoes. The blonde turns and begins making her way to the door, stopping just as she’s about to turn the handle, before walking back to Ryo, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing their lips together. 

 

Ryo isn’t entirely sure why he isn’t immediately filled with the same panic and uncertainty he was the last time this happened, or why, instead, a sense of calm and serenity flooded his entire body, helping to ease some of the pain he was in. This is it. He’s finally lost it. Maybe the stress of life has become too much for Ryo to handle? Or maybe his concussion is a lot worse than he thought? All Ryo knows is that there is absolutely no way in hell that this, or anything else that happened in the past 10 minutes, is actually real. Or maybe...

 

Ryo’s hands somehow find Rie’s hips, grabbing onto her and pulling her closer to him, kissing her again, and again, and again, and again, and once more for good measure, which the blonde happily reciprocates.

 

… or maybe he’s just one lucky son of a bitch.

 

Rie pulls away after some undisclosed amount of time, just as Ryo’s lungs are beginning to burn from oxygen deprivation, not that he was gonna let that stop him. The blonde smiles at him, her arms still wrapped around his neck. 

 

“I think I’d better go, before some reporter looking to get a comment out of you walks in here, or worse, your coach.” Ryo allows himself to chuckle at that.

 

“Ya, that’s a story I don’t really feel like telling today” Ryo says, only half-jokingly. Rie finally let's go of the raven haired man and takes a step back, which Ryo allows her to do, albeit rather reluctantly. She walks to the door but turns around one last time.

 

“See you around, Ryo” she says with a small wave, before turning the handle and disappearing out into the hallway. The room descends back into silence now that Rie was no longer there, and the raven haired man finds himself already missing her. Taking a deep breath, Ryo allows himself to lay back down on the bench, closing his eyes and willing the sudden rush of dizziness he feels to go away. It doesn’t of course, but it was worth a try.

 

Kumi finally returns with his glass of water, as well as Coach Toho and the onsite medical doctor, who recommends that Ryo see a doctor for his injuries as soon as physically possible, but does not require him to go to the emergency room if he doesn’t want to. Ryo chooses not to go to the ER, instead allowing the onsite medical doctor to bandage up his busted arm and whatever other injuries that needed tending to. Seeing his doctor for a post-match checkup was one thing, insurance would cover that (hopefully), but the last thing Ryo needed to worry about right now was an ER bill on top of everything else he has to pay for this month.

 

By the time Ryo and Kumi get home that night, Ryo is about 2 seconds from collapsing right where he stands, but that calm and peaceful feeling from earlier was still there, which was nice. Maybe Ryo was finally going to get some good sleep tonight. 

 

“Ryo” Kumi calls just as he’s about to head into his room and go to bed. She looks like she wants to say something, but can’t seem to find the words for it. 

 

“Get some rest. You’ve earned it” she says with a small smile, before turning and heading into the kitchen. Ryo stands in the living room for a moment, wondering what the hell that was all about, before deciding that he doesn’t care, walking into his room and closing the door behind him. 

 

Despite how much he had on his mind, sleep came rather easily to Ryo that night. All things considered, today ended up going pretty well for him, maybe not in the way he expected it to, but pretty well nonetheless.

 

Let’s just hope that things continue like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes I wanna grab this stupid boy by the shoulders and shake him over how stupid he is. Thanks for reading, leave a comment, see you all soon for chapter 19. Bye! <3 <3 <3


	19. New Threads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

The new year never really did much for Ryo in terms of filling him with renewed energy or motivation or hope that the coming year was going to be any better than the last. Maybe it was just his naturally pessimistic personality, or maybe Ryo has been around long enough to know that things didn’t magically get better just because he had to buy a new calendar ever December.

 

At least…  that’s what he would think, if the past 8 months hadn’t been the craziest and most unpredictable months of Ryo’s entire life. Of course, it was a bit of a stretch to say that Ryo’s life was universally better than it was January of the previous year, but it definitely was better, the biggest reason for that having to do with a certain blonde haired woman that Ryo had met and, reluctantly, befriended, only to end up falling head over heels for her.

 

If you came up to Ryo a year prior to this point in time, and told him that he’d found the girl of his dreams and was currently in the process of trying to date her, he’d probably have laughed in your face, before mercilessly beating the ever living shit out of you and dumping your unconscious body in a trash can. But, whether he wanted to admit it or now, it was true. Ryo may never have thought that Rie would become both his closest friend, as well as the object of his midnight fantasies, but somewhere along the way, she had, and despite how much Ryo had tried to hide it at first, he could no longer deny just how important she had become to him. And thankfully, Rie seemed to share the same sentiment. Now, Ryo found himself teetering awkwardly on the incredibly thin line that separated ‘friends’ from ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’, never entirely sure of what he’s doing due to both his lack of experience, as well as the fear that leaning too far in either direction might cause Ryo to lose her entirely.

 

Ryo was taking a big risk, practically setting himself up for heartbreak and humiliation should things not work out with Rie, and yet despite the incredibly high stakes, Ryo had long since decided that the potential reward he’d claim if everything went his way, far outweighed the drawbacks and risks he faced if they didn’t. He wasn’t entirely sure why this was the case, but then again, Ryo was never entirely sure of anything when it came to Rie. Funny how one of the most annoying things about a person can quickly become one of the reasons why you fell in love with them.

 

It’s been 3 weeks since Ryo lost the Eastern Japan Rookie King final to that little geek, Makunouchi, but despite the constant reminder of his defeat in the form of a swollen face, bruised ribs, and a busted left arm, Ryo found that he no longer cared about the Rookie King Tournament. Sure winning it would have been a great way for him to bolster his rank and assure himself a straight shot to the Featherweight belt, but after talking with Coach Toho, he ultimately decided, thanks to a suggestion from Rie, that he’d be better off going up a weight class and trying his luck in the Jr. Light class, where he’d retain his height advantage, but not have to worry about losing as much weight before each match. 

 

All in all everything worked out pretty well for Ryo, in the end. Now the only thing left to do was knock his upcoming dinner date with Rie out of the park, which leads us back to the present moment, where Ryo is currently out at the shopping mall with Kumi.

 

“Remind me again why you  **need** a new suit, this second, and can’t wait until they go on sale in a couple months” Kumi asks Ryo, becoming increasingly suspicious of her brother’s insistence that he needed a new suit as soon as possible, while also demanding that Kumi come with him to get it. Ryo rolls his eyes, starting to get sick of answering this question. He wasn’t sure why Kumi was starting to become so suspicious of him, especially since he’s been as tight lipped about Rie as he’s ever been, and has even brought Koda over to their apartment a few times so Kumi would stop bothering him about meeting his ‘friend’, so she could see Koda again.

 

“Kumi I told you already, I just want to get a new suit now, so I don’t have to worry about buying one later when I only have a week to get it.” Kumi narrows her eyes at her brother, but says nothing. It’s a lie, and a terrible one at that. Ryo knows that Kumi sees through his blatant attempt at deception, growing more and more suspicious of his motivations with each passing minute, but at this point Ryo wasn’t really concerned about what Kumi did or didn’t think, his only priority at the moment was buying himself a new suit, preferably one that fit him well, looked nice, and wouldn’t empty his bank account. Ryo likes Rie, don’t get me wrong, but he also has bills to pay.

 

The two siblings enter the mall’s suit shop and Ryo immediately becomes overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choices that are available to him. How many fucking kinds of suits did one man need for there to be this many options. Normally, Ryo would head straight to the back of shop where they kept their ‘discount’ products, ‘discount’ meaning that nobody with a decently sized wallet and a social reputation to uphold would ever even think about buying suits that were this poor quality. Unfortunately for Ryo, those ‘discount’ suits were one of the few options in the store that were actually within his budget, and it wasn’t like he had anybody to impress before, so it didn’t really matter if his suit was a cheap knock off that would fall apart in less than a year… except that now it did.

 

Kumi headed straight for the back of the store like usual, while Ryo meandered his way around the middle section of the store, where the slightly more expensive, but not outrageously so, suits were kept. Ryo wasn’t an expert on suits or anything like that, but even he could tell that the ones in the middle were infinitely better quality than the one’s kept in the back, though their price tags made him slightly nauseous.

 

“Is there anything I can help you with, sir?” A mousy little voice asks from behind Ryo. Turning around, the raven haired man is met with the sight of a short, middle-aged woman with graying black hair tied back into a bun, wearing a dark blue skirt suit, not too different from the ones he’d seen Rie wear. Ryo casts a glance around the store, looking around for the older gentleman who usually ran the store during the day, but he was nowhere to be found from what Ryo could see.

 

“Is uh… Mr. Mogi, still working here?” He asks the woman curiously.

 

“Oh no, I’m afraid Mr. Mogi retired several months ago after a health scare. Were you looking to speak with him, specifically?” Ryo shakes his head.

 

“No, I wasn’t, in fact I’m actually kind of glad he’s gone.” The woman seems taken aback.

 

“Why is that?”

 

“Because the last time I was here, the hateful bastard sold me a suit for twice it’s tag price and refused to give me my money back when it fell apart at the dry cleaners like a roll of dental floss” Ryo bites.

 

“Oh goodness, I’m so sorry to hear that. Well in that case, perhaps I can help you find something of a little better quality that will fit inside your budget. Are you buying for a certain occasion or for everyday work attire?” The older woman asks. Ryo casts a nervous glance over his shoulder, looking around until he spots Kumi on the other side of the store, browsing a rack of cheap suits. Ryo leans down to the older woman and lowers his voice.

 

“Alright so, I’ve got this… thing, coming up with a girl I’m… seeing, I guess is the word to use, and I need a nice looking suit so I can take her out to this fancy restaurant I booked us a reservation at, but I don’t have anything that doesn’t look like I found it on the side of the road and I don’t exactly have the extra cash to dish out for a custom tailored suit” Ryo explains. 

 

“And the girl whose with you now?”

 

“My sister. Who doesn’t know anything about this girl I’m seeing, or the reason why I need a new suit by the end of this week, although I think she might be starting to wonder.” The older woman nods her head in understanding.

 

“I see. That is quite the predicament you have on your hands.” 

 

“No kidding” Ryo mumbles to himself. “So can you help me, or am I just gonna have to deal with being broke until my next paycheck?”

 

“Well, I can most certainly try. I can’t promise that the suit will be a perfect fit, but I don’t see why we can’t find you something that looks flattering, nonetheless” the woman says beginning to walk Ryo through the various suits that were laid out in the middle section of the store. They all looked really nice, and Ryo even liked the looks of a couple of them, but ultimately none of them fell even remotely within the price range he could afford to pay, and the ones that Kumi had picked out for him didn’t look any better than the one he had before, which wasn’t going to cut it for what Ryo needed it for. By the time they had worked their way through the entire middle section of the store, Ryo had practically given up hope about finding a nice suit for his date.

 

The older woman taps her finger against her chin for a moment, before her face lights up. 

 

“Wait right here” she instructs, turning around and heading into the back of the store. Ryo stands awkwardly, while he waits for the older woman to return. The raven haired man can feel Kumi looking at him from behind a rack of suits in the back, but he ignores her. The woman returns after a few minutes, a sleek, clean, brand new looking black suit in her hands.

 

“What about this one?” She asks, holding up the suit. At first, Ryo is rather skeptical. The suit itself looks great, in fact it looks exactly like what he’s looking for, and best of all, it looks like it’ll fit him perfectly, which is precisely why he eyes the article of clothing with extreme suspicion and apprehension.

 

“What’s the catch” Ryo asks, knowing that he isn’t going to get his hands on a suit as nice as this without giving up an arm and a leg. The woman looks at him good naturedly.

 

“Why there’s no catch at all. A worker found a hole ripped into one of the pockets, and since we don’t know who did it we were going to send it back to the manufacturer, but we do have a policy where if a customer wants a certain item, but it has a rip or tear or any sort of imperfection, we sell it to them at half price.”

 

Half price? That didn’t sound like a bad deal. But just because something is being sold at half price, doesn’t mean its anywhere near Ryo’s budget. Ryo grimaces, taking the fabric between his fingers. He likes the suit. He really likes the suit. 

 

“How much is it?” He asks slowly. A part of him really doesn’t want to know the answer to that question, if only because any price higher than the one he already has in his head might make him nauseous.

 

“Well, considering that the suit was on clearance sale before, while it was still being sold in the store, as well as the 50% off due to the damage we found, the total price of this suit will come out to exactly… $235” the woman says, flashing the price up on the register monitor. 

 

“That’s it?” Ryo says aloud, staring at the monitor in shock and disbelief.

 

“Yes, I’ve double checked everything so that should be the correct price. What do you think? Is this a good price, or should we keep looking for something a bit more modest?” Ryo’s gaze switches back and forth between the suit and the price on the monitor. Technically speaking, the suit is out of his budget. Ryo always swore that he’d never pay more than $200 for a piece of clothing, regardless of how nice or fancy it looked, no way, he wouldn’t do it. Then again, it wasn’t like Ryo had anyone he needed to impress with his choice of clothing back when he made that vow, not to mention that his bank account was a great deal emptier back then as well. 

 

‘It’s only $35’ Ryo rationalizes to himself. ‘And it’s not like you’re paying $235 for a $235 suit, you’re paying $235 for a $700 suit, that’ll probably last you an entire decade… but do you actually like it, or are you buying it cuz you’ve got the money to buy it?”

 

Ryo grimaces, taking the fabric of the suit between his fingers, inspecting every thread and fold twice over. He likes the suit. He really likes the suit.

 

“I’ll take it” Ryo says, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and handing his debit card over to the woman. At this point, Kumi walks over to him, a curious look on her face.

 

“Did you find something?” She asks, peering around to take a look at the suit the woman behind the counter was currently folding. Ryo casually moves himself to the side, covering the monitor that showed the price he paid for the suit with his shoulder so that Kumi couldn’t see it. There was no way in hell Ryo was going to be able to keep this up for much longer if Kumi found out he just paid $235 for a fucking suit.

 

The woman hands Ryo the bag containing his new suit, smiling at him.

 

“Here you are. Thank you so much for shopping with us today.” Ryo nods.

 

“Ya. Thanks for all the help” he says, turning around and beginning to head out the door with Kumi.

 

“Oh sir, just a moment. You forgot your receipt” the woman yells after him. Ryo groans, turning around and heading back to the register, leaving Kumi to wait for him by the door.

 

“Thanks” he says, reaching his hand out to take the receipt. The woman takes his hand and quickly shoves something else into it along with his receipt. Ryo looks down at the contents of his hand, his brows furrowing when he sees a business card for a flower shop just down the road, shoved between the folded halves of his receipt. 

 

“Make sure you get her something nice on your way there” the woman says in a quiet voice. “Grand gestures are nice and all, but it’s the little things you do that really tell her how you feel.”

 

Ryo looks up at the woman in confusion. She winks at him.

 

“Good luck” she says. Ryo nods his head in understanding, shoving his receipt and the business card into the bag before heading back to where Kumi was standing.

 

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Kumi asks as they walk through the mall, beginning to head home. Ryo’s gaze falls to the bag in his left hand, which contained both his new suit, as well as the flower shop card that the older woman had given him.

 

“Ya” Ryo says. “I think I actually did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryo buys himself a new suit because... Idk becasue I fucking said so that’s why. Thanks for reading, comment, see you soon for chapter 20. Bye!


	20. Dinner Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

‘This is a bad idea’ Ryo thinks to himself, as he stands outside Rie’s door, dressed up in his brand new suit, a bouquet of flowers that he’d gotten from the flower shop the woman at the suit store recommended him to, in his hands.

 

Of all the times Ryo has ever stood on the outside of Rie’s door, staring at the textured grain of her front door, this was probably the most nervous he has ever been, and for good reason too. This wasn’t like every other time Ryo had come to pick Rie up for whatever it was they were doing that evening, this was a high stakes, high reward operation, with little room for error.

 

While it was true that Ryo stood to gain everything if things went well tonight, he was also aware of the fact that he had everything to lose if they didn’t. As much as Ryo wanted to believe that things would ultimately work out in his favor, that tiny voice in the back of his head continued to whisper to him, listing out all the ‘what if's’ and the ‘what thens’ and all sort of other garbage Ryo really didn’t need to be hearing right now. Clutching the bouquet of flowers, Ryo takes a deep breath and knocks on the door. A moment of silence passes.

 

“It’s open” the muffled voice of Rie calls from the other side of the door. Ryo takes hold of the door knob and turns it, opening the door and heading inside. Upon entering Rie’s apartment, Koda immediately jumps off the couch, trotting over to Ryo with his tennis ball in his mouth, dropping it at his feet. Ryo picks up the slobbery sphere and tosses in into Rie’s room. Koda runs excitedly after it.

 

“Hey” Rie calls, the shadow reflecting off the wall indicating that she was currently in the bathroom.

 

“Hey” Ryo echoes, standing at the doorway. He stiffens and quickly shoves the bouquet of flowers behind his back when he hears the sound of heels clicking against the hardwood floor. Rie is finishing clipping an earring into her ear when she emerges from the bathroom, dressed in a long black, sleeveless ball gown that fit snugly against her small figure, along with gold earrings, and dark, sophisticated-looking makeup. Although the dress technically covered the blonde from her neck all the way down to her ankles, certain parts of the dress were made up of a sheer, mesh-like material, allowing areas of skin to peek through, teasingly. Rie looked positively elegant, and Ryo had to make a conscious effort not to drool all over the floor just from looking at her.

 

“Hey you” Rie greets, a smile spreading across her face once she gets a good look at Ryo.

 

“Well well, who’s this dashing young gentleman standing at my door?” She teases. Ryo isn’t exactly sure what to say.

 

“Wow, that looks amazing on you. Did you buy a new suit?” Rie asks, walking over to him and performing the same inspection she did before the Summer Solstice party back in July. Ryo stiffened as the blonde gently brushed at a piece of lint that had gotten stuck on his shoulder.

 

“Uh ya… my other one got trashed at the dry cleaners… had to get a new one” Ryo answers, swallowing thickly.

 

“I like your dress.” He says, trying his absolute best to look at Rie’s face, and not down at the area of mesh on her chest that, from this angle, gave Ryo a perfect view of the shorter woman’s cleavage. The last thing Ryo needed at this point was to fuck everything up and ruin his chances with Rie because he was being a massive perv.

 

“Why thank you” Rie says, taking a step back and doing a little twirl, allowing the fabric of the dress to flow outwards around her. “My mum bought it for me when I was back in England. I wasn’t so sure about it just looking at it on the rack, but when my mum made me try it on I knew I had to have it.”

 

‘Thank god for that’ Ryo thinks to himself.

 

“So uh… these are for you” Ryo says after a moment of silence, producing the bouquet of flowers from behind his back and holding them out to Rie. The blonde gasps and her eyes widen in shock.

 

“Oh Ryo, these are gorgeous, thank you” she says, gingerly taking the tied bundle of flowers out of the taller man’s hands, before reaching up and planting a kiss to his cheek.

 

Ryo makes a mental note to thank the lady from the suit shop as Rie takes the flowers and gently placed them on the kitchen counter. She grabs her purse, slings it over her shoulder, and walks back toward Ryo.

 

“Ready to go?” Rie asks with a smile. Ryo nods, grabbing the door and opening it for her. Koda runs back into the room at the sound of the door opening.

 

“Koda, be a good boy while we’re gone, ok? We’ll be back soon” Rie says, exiting the apartment with Ryo in tow.

 

The place that Ryo chose for tonight’s date was a quaint little Italian restaurant squashed between a vintage boutique and a women’s hair salon. The restaurant wasn’t terribly extravagant as far as restaurants went in Tokyo, but it was very elegant and nice looking, was in a good area, and the prices for food and drinks were decently affordable too, which was a plus.

 

A man seated behind a counter looked up from whatever he was doing when Ryo and Rie entered.

 

“Good evening. Welcome to Giuseppe's Fine Italian Dining. How may I help you this evening?” The host asks politely.

 

“I have a reservation for 8 o’clock, a table for 2” Ryo says. The man looks down at what appears to be a schedule, skimming through a list of names before stopping at one.

 

“For Mashiba?” The host asks.

 

“Ya” the raven haired man confirms. The host grabs a couple of menus before standing up.

 

“You’re right on time. Follow me this way to your table.” He instructs, beginning to make his way through the decently occupies, but not completely full, restaurant. The host places their menus down on the table and takes a step back, allowing both Ryo and Rie to take a seat across from each other at the small table.

 

“Here are your menus, you may begin browsing through them at your leisure. A waiter will be with you to take your orders shortly. Do you have anymore questions for me?”

 

“No, not at the moment. Thank you” Rie says, politely. The host bows before leaving. Silence falls over the two adults as they begin looking through the menu. Ryo spends a few minutes flipping uninterestedly through the menu. The food itself looked and sounded good, but at the moment, eating was, ironically, the last thing on the raven haired man’s mind. Ryo’s eyes flick up to the blonde in front of him.

 

What should he say? Was he supposed to say anything at all? Should he be casual, and act the way he usually did? Or should he try being more formal, more ‘gentlemanly’? Then again, if he did that, Rie might think he was making fun of her. God fucking dammit, why did everything have to be so complicated when it came to this woman?                                                                                                            

 

“You know what you’re gonna get?” Rie asks, not looking up from her own menu.

 

“No. How about you?” The raven haired man responds. Rie hums in consideration.

 

“I think I might try the shrimp carbonara. My dad used to make it at home for us all the time, so it would be interesting to see how different it is here in Japan.”

 

Ryo’s eyes scan the menu until he finds the item Rie was talking about, and he let's of a small sigh of relief once he sees it’s price. Of course it would be ludicrous to think that the cost of food in a place like this would be anything near as low as the premade microwave dinners he usually gets for himself, and Ryo fully expected going into this, that he’d end up paying a pretty penny for this date. Honestly the only reason he picked this place was because it was the cheapest restaurant he could find that still fell into the category of ‘fine dining’ rather than ‘fast food’. The fact that Rie had decided to pick one of the cheaper options the menu had to offer, opposed to something like the steak, was a silent miracle as far as Ryo, and his wallet, were concerned.

 

A few moments later, a waiter arrives, placing two glasses of water in front of them.

 

“Good evening, welcome to Giuseppe's Fine Italian Dining. My name is Mogi, and I’ll be your waiter tonight. Can I get either of you started with anything to drink, besides the water? We have a wide selection to choose from, both of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety” the man says, motioning to the drink menus placed directly in the middle of the table.

 

“No thank you, I’m fine with just the water” Rie says, turning to Ryo. “You want anything?”

 

“Nah, I’m good with just the water. Thanks” the raven haired man says. The waiter nods.

 

“Very well, I’ll go ahead and take both your orders if you’re ready” the waiter says, taking out a pad of paper and a pen, writing down both their orders before leaving and heading into the kitchen.

 

“So, when’s your next match?” Rie asks out of the blue.

 

“Sometime in March” Ryo replies. “They haven’t finalized who my opponent is gonna be thought.”

 

“Nice! Well let me know when and where and I’ll make sure to be there. What did your coach think about my idea to go up a weight class?” Ryo shrugged his shoulders.

 

“He seemed to think it was a pretty good idea, since he let me do it.”

 

“That’s good, I’m glad I could be of help! Hopefully now that you’ve upped your weight class, I won’t have to worry so much about you passing out and having to be rushed to the hospital because you haven’t eaten in 3 days” Rie laughs. Ryo allows a small smile to spread across his lips. Leave it to Rie to turn, what could have been, a very serious matter, into a lighthearted joke that they can look back on and laugh about.

 

“Ya, that definitely wouldn’t be fun” Ryo nods. Rie takes a deep breath, sitting back in her chair.

 

“My parents have been asking me about you?” Ryo furrows his brows.

 

“Why’s that?”

 

“They’ve been bugging me about making friends every since I moved to Japan, something about not wanting me to end up alone and depressed because I shut myself away and only ever focused on my work. So when I went back to England, my mom kept asking me over and over again about all of the friends that I had made while I had been gone overseas. Who they were, what they did for a living, how often we hung out, that kind of stuff. And so one day my mum is grilling me over my lack of ‘guy friends’.”

 

“Why the hell does she care about the number of ‘guy friends’ you have?” Ryo asks, interrupting Rie’s story. The blonde heaves a sigh.

 

“Because when my mum says ‘guy friend’, which any normal person would assume meant ‘a guy who is your friend’, she really means ‘potential boyfriend’. So when she asks me the question ‘Rie, why haven’t you found yourself any ‘guy friends’ yet?’ she really means ‘Rie, why haven’t you found yourself a husband yet?’, which is a question that she’s been asking me since my freshman year of college” Rie explains.

 

“That sounds… annoying.”

 

“Trust me. It is” the blonde confirms, taking a sip of her water.

 

“So what does that whole story have to do with your parents asking about me?” Ryo asks, slightly confused.

 

“Oh ya, I’m getting to that, don’t worry” Rie says with a wave of her hand. “So I’m out shopping with my Mum, and she’s asking me for the millionth time, ‘Rie, why don’t you have any ‘guy friends’? Japan is full of all sorts of nice boys. Why haven’t you found a nice boy and gotten to know him yet, Rie?’ And I was getting to sick and fucking tired of her talking about it that I finally cracked and… told her about you.”

 

A moment of silence passes.

 

“Ok… and?” Ryo asks, still not entirely sure where this was going.

 

“Oh my god, this is so embarrassing…” Rie breaks out giggling, burying her rapidly reddening face into her hands. Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow at her.

 

“When I told my mom about you, she somehow got it into her head that you were my **boyfriend** , and the reason why I hadn’t made any more ‘guy friends’ was because I already got a boyfriend, and ever since that conversation, I have not been able to convince her that you were not my secret lover that I was trying to hide away from the rest of my family” Rie finished, her face growing even redder when Ryo bursts out laughing, causing several couples from around the restaurant to look at them strangely.

 

“You’re fucking kidding me” Ryo says, leaning over the table and lowering his voice. Rie giggles leaning forward and lowering her own voice.

 

“I swear to god it’s true, and she’s haunted me about it ever since, it’s the entire reason why she bought me this dress. She wanted me to have something nice to wear in case you proposed.” Ryo pinches the bridge of his nose, unable to keep himself from laughing at how comically similar this story sounded.

 

“So I’m standing there next to my mum, my jaw is literally on the ground by this point, and then I say to her ‘Ok first of all, we aren’t even dating, so a proposal is already out of the question as far as reality is concerned, second of all, he’s 2 years younger than me, which is a little young for marriage, and third of all, I don’t know if he ever even wants to get married, so why the hell would me coming along ever change that?’”

 

‘Oh, if only you knew’ Ryo thought to himself as Rie continued to giggle uncontrollably at her story. She calmed down finally after a moment or so, a slightly embarrassed smile spread across her lips.

 

“Wow, that’s quite the story” Ryo says, trying to hold back a grin of his own.

 

“I know, it’s so embarrassing, I literally almost ran face first into a door when she called you my boyfriend for the first time. Everyone in the shopping center was staring at me like I was a fucking loony person, when I started yelling at her” Rie says, shaking her head with a sigh.

 

“You know” Ryo begins, hesitating for a moment. “The same thing actually happened to me a couple months ago with my boss.”

 

Rie’s eyes widen and a large grin spreads across her face.

 

“No it didn’t. You’re lying to me. You’re just saying that” the blonde says in disbelief.

 

“I fucking wish I was lying” Ryo admits, pinching the bridge of his nose as the awfully clingy memory of Mr. Tanaka calling Rie his girlfriend, and the subsequent outburst he had, resurfaces. Rie practically squeals in delight, clapping her hands together.

 

“Oh my god. Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me” the blonde chants excitedly.

 

“Alright, alright, don’t get your fucking panties in a wad” Ryo says. “So I went in to work one day, and my boss calls me over and asks me if I’m going to the Summer Solstice party. At first I said no, I wasn’t going to the stupid party because a) I had completely forgotten about it until he mentioned it to me just then and b) I had no interest in spending any more time with these idiots than I already had to-”

 

“Liar, you didn’t say that” Rie accuses. Ryo rolls his eyes.

 

“Alright fine, I didn’t actually say it, but I thought it. Anyways, he starts trying to convince me to come to the stupid party, and I tell him no for the second time, so in a last ditch effort to get me to go, he says the party will have lots of food and drink and that, if I wanted, I could bring my **girlfriend** with me-”

 

“Oh my god” Rie giggles, covering her mouth with her hand as Ryo continues.

 

“-and ya, I think you can probably guess how well that whole conversation ended.”

 

“Oh, oh, let me guess, vehement denial and and screaming ‘she’s not my girlfriend’ at the top of your lungs?” Ryo narrows his eyes at the blonde, a curious expression on his face.

 

“How’d you know that?”

 

“Cuz that’s exactly what I did when my mum called you my boyfriend” the blonde admits bashfully.

 

“Ah, I see” Ryo says with a nod of his head with a light chuckle.

 

At this point, the waiter finally returns with their food, placing their plates down in front of them before leaving once again.

 

“Oh finally, I’m starving” Rie says, placing her napkin on her lap and picking up her utensils, beginning to dig in to her plate of food. Ryo follows her lead, feeling pretty hungry himself by this point. The two fall into a period of comfortable silence as they begin eating their respective meals. The food is good, really good actually, which is good, because there’s nothing worse than paying for food at a restaurant, only for the food to taste like garbage.

 

Rie giggles at something.

 

“What?” Ryo asks through a mouthful of food, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. Rie shakes her head.

 

“No, it’s nothing. I just can’t stop laughing over how we both got told off about secretly seeing someone behind everyone’s backs, and we weren’t even dating. Jesus fucking christ. It’s like something out of a bad romance novel” the blonde chuckles, placing her hand over her mouth so her food didn’t accidentally spill out all over the nice tablecloth.

 

“Ya” Ryo said, twirling his fork on his plate absentmindedly. Rie catches him staring and she smiles, winking at him before returning to her half-finished plate of food. The rest of their meal passes by relatively uneventfully, save for the argument that broke out when the check finally arrived. Ryo had to practically rip it out of her hands, but ultimately was able to pay for dinner like he originally planned. Once their plates have been cleared and the check has been paid, Ryo and Rie depart from the restaurant and head back to Rie’s apartment.

 

“Thanks for taking out to dinner tonight” Rie says as they exit the elevator and approach her doorway.

 

“Ya, no problem. Thanks for coming with me” Ryo responds, dropping his gaze down to his shoes, awkwardly. A moment of silence passes.

 

“So…. what now?” Ryo asks aloud, not at anyone in particular. Rie looks up at him, leaning against the door frame, a smile on her lips.

 

“Well, at this point I think it’s pretty clear that, after everything I’ve said and done, that I like you, and after everything you’ve said and done, that you like me, so right now we’ve got two options” the blonde begins. “Option 1, we do nothing. We walk away, we go about things how we have before, and we continue being friends, but nothing more than that.”

 

“And option 2...?” Ryo asks slowly. Rie looks up at him, a smile spreading slowly across her lips.

 

“Or, we could do option 2, which is to stop beating around the bush like a couple of high school crushes, admit that we’ve got a thing for each other, and go inside and make out on my couch for a few hours.”

 

He wasn’t sure what it was about the incredibly casual way Rie said that sentence, despite the rather serious topic they were discussing, but something about it, coupled with the suggestive smirk on her face, sent a shiver down his spine. Ryo swallows thickly, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry.

 

“So, what do you think? ” Rie asks. Ryo isn’t really sure what to think at the moment, his mind going back and forth as to what he should do, trying to decide whether he should give in to his heart’s desire to accept Rie’s offer, or listen to the nagging voice in the back of his head, which chanted over and over again about how foolish he was to think he would ever be deserving of her.

 

“That is… if you’re not already busy with the hordes of adoring fans you have to attend to” the blonde says, teasingly. Ryo laughs at that, unable to contain himself at the idea of girls fawning over him, **him** , like they did over those stupid pretty boys like Hayami or Miyata.

 

“Ya right, like hell a guy with a mug as ugly as mine could ever have ‘adoring fans’” Ryo says, only half jokingly.

 

“Well, I don’t think it’s all that ugly” Rie says, lifting her hand up to gently caress at Ryo’s cheek. “In fact, I think it’s pretty handsome.”

 

Ryo stiffens slightly.

 

“I think you need some new glasses” he mutters, avoiding the blonde’s gaze.

 

“Maybe” she responds. “But I stopped dating people for their looks a long time ago. Besides, I like a guy with a bit more of a… personality.”

 

“Is that what you call this?” Ryo huffs, gesturing vaguely at himself. Rie laughs.

 

“Alright then, fine, I like assholes, how’s that for a description of my ideal man?”

 

“More accurate, if nothing else” Ryo chuckles under his breath. Rie finally gets her door open, but does not move to enter her apartment. The blonde looks up at Ryo.

 

“So what do you say? Wanna give it a try?” She asks, looking up at the raven haired man, her eyes glistening with hope and excitement and a promise for something that Ryo wasn’t entirely sure he understood, but every fiber of his body screamed at him to go for it, to take the plunge and dive head first into this new and unfamiliar world, if only because the promise of whatever Rie had to offer him far outweighed the harsh and biting words of the voice in the back of his head.

 

Ryo had never been very good with words, and he’d never been very good at expressing himself with them either. He’d always done far better with actions, since they always spoke the loudest, and were a great deal more difficult to fuck up when it came to communicating what he felt. So Ryo tossed aside whatever half baked confession he had cooked up in his mind on the walk over here earlier today, in favor of leaning down and pressing his lips against Rie’s. A soft sound of surprise left the blonde’s lips at the sudden contact, but was quickly replaced by a small chuckle and a pleasant hum, as she eagerly returned the gesture.

 

Ryo’s lungs seared from oxygen deprivation long before he even thought about pulling away, though not enough that Rie was forced to untangle her arms from around his neck. He probably looked like a love struck idiot right now, but honestly, he couldn’t even bring himself to care.

 

“So” Rie began, slightly out of breath. “I take it you’re up for the couple hours of making out on the couch then?”

 

Ryo says nothing, instead moving forward and wrapping his around around Rie’s waist, effortlessly lifting the blonde into his arms. The blonde let out a high pitched squeal, followed by an excited laugh as she latched onto his shoulders. At this point, Ryo didn’t even try to hide the smile that had spread across his own face, as he held the girl of his dreams in his arms, her small frame fitting against him as though she were made specifically for him.

 

As Ryo effortlessly carried the giggling blonde inside her apartment, wrapping his arms around her and pressing their lips back together as he kicked the door closed behind them, a small glimmer of hope that had been extinguished when his parents passed away, rekindled itself. The feeling was small, and relatively weak, but it was there nonetheless. When you’ve spent the last 3 years of your life, blinded in total darkness, unsure of what the next few seconds of life hold in store for you at any given time, even the smallest of lights can illuminate the space around you, encouraging and driving you forward, giving you the smallest bit of hope that maybe, just maybe, the future holds a little more for you than the failure and misery you always believed you deserved.

 

Ryo had a feeling that his days were about to get a lot less lonely. And he couldn’t have been more excited about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so this chapter was technically supposed to come like... 3 chapters ago, but then stuff started happening so I had to keep pushing it back further and further but now it’s FINALLY HERE!!! Let me know what you think in the comments below, thanks so much for reading, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 21. Bye!


	21. Nosy Little Sister

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

The cold chill of winter came and went with surprising swiftness, quickly giving way to the gentle warmth of spring. Cherry blossoms fluttered in the breeze, covering the streets of Tokyo in a healthy dusting of pale pink. Ryo had never paid very much attention to it before. Rie refused to shut up about it.

 

“Oh come on Ryo, it’s absolutely gorgeous out. Let’s go take Koda for a walk at the park, please” the blonde begged, tugging insistently at the raven haired man’s arm, as he sat stubbornly on the couch, wanting nothing more than to just relax after a long day of work and training.

 

“Rie, for the last fucking time, I’m not getting off this couch” Ryo stated firmly, repeating the statement he made when he first trudged into Rie’s apartment and flopped down onto the soft cushions of her couch. 

 

A little over 2 months had passed since the two friends had officially started dating, yet contrary to what Ryo expected, nothing particularly drastic had changed between them. It was a bit strange, and things were definitely a little awkward for Ryo at first, as he tried to figure out how best to navigate the strange and unfamiliar territories of dating in your early 20s. He eventually got the hang of things however, and slowly but surely, he and Rie slipped into a nice and comfortable flow, which wasn’t too unlike how things were before, but with the added bonus of Ryo being able to touch her butt every once in a while.

 

Life was good, Ryo decided, as he laid on Rie’s couch, one arm behind his head, the other wrapped gently around Rie, who slept peacefully on his chest, the TV show in the background a mere afterthought as Ryo wondered whether or not this whole thing was just a cruel dream this mind was using to torture him with, or if he really had somehow been lucky enough to find and convince this strange woman that he was worth her time, energy, and love. Whichever one it was, Ryo most surely wasn’t going to complain.

 

He was however, going to complain about the fact that Rie had been bugging the shit out of him for the past hour, begging him to take Koda on a walk with her. He whined the entire way, but ultimately agreed to go with her, if only to get her to shut up about it.

 

“See, isn’t this nice?” Rie asks, intertwining her hand with Ryo’s as they meander down the sidewalk, Koda stopping every so often to sniff at something. Ryo avoided her gaze, his ears turning red.

 

“Ya, it's alright, I guess.” Rie smiles at him, a knowing look on her face. It was almost scary how easily the blonde could read through his icy cold exterior, and peer right into the hidden and secret thoughts he kept under lock and key, far away from the gazes and judgements of those around him. I suppose that’s what happens when you get to know someone as well as Ryo has gotten to know Rie, and vice versa.

 

By the time they return from their walk, Ryo has decided to go home that night. Truthfully, he’d much rather stay here with Rie, and waste away the evening sprawled out on the couch, watching TV and munching on whatever snacks Rie had in her pantry. But it had been a few days since Ryo had been home for more than an hour at a time, and he suspected that Kumi was probably starting to get worried.

 

With a quick kiss to Rie’s lips, and a gentle pat to Koda’s head, Ryo set out into the evening, beginning the walk home. By the time he arrived back at his shitty little apartment, Kumi was still awake, which was surprising, since she usually went to bed much earlier than this. His little sister eyed Ryo as he entered, a determined look on her face.

 

“Hey, you’re up late” Ryo greets causally, toeing his shoes off and hanging his coat up.

 

“Where have you been?” Kumi asks, her voice unusually tense and focused. 

 

“Nowhere” he responds, making his way to his bedroom. Kumi cuts him off before he can make it.

 

“I said. Where have you been?” The brunette asks, more insistently this time. Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow at her.

 

“Why do you wanna know?” He asks, becoming slightly annoyed and defensive over this sister’s demands to know where he was, like it was any of her business.

 

“Because you’re hardly ever home anymore” she accuses, her hands balling up into fists.

 

“Ya so, what of it?” Ryo bites back, his own anger beginning to take over.

 

“I noticed it last summer when you started going out more, you started spending less time alone, at home, and for a while I was happy for you, I thought maybe you were out making friends and socializing, but now things have changed. Now, instead of being out all day and coming home late at night, now… now there are days were you don’t even come home at all” Kumi ranted, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Ryo groans and rolls his eyes, pushing his sister out of the way and heading for his room, not in the mood to listen to any of this. 

 

“YOU WERE WITH THAT BLONDE WOMAN AGAIN, WEREN’T YOU?” Kumi yells, causing Ryo to stop dead in his tracks, his hand frozen just inches from his door. The raven haired man turns, very slowly to look at his sister, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief as to the words that just came out of her mouth.

 

“What did you just say?” Ryo asks, his voice barely louder than a whisper, as he looks at Kumi, whose barely holding back tears at this point, but a look of fierce determination, muddled with anger, spread across her face.

 

“I saw you” she begins. “I saw you with a woman. A woman with short blonde hair, who came to see you after you lost to Ippo at the Rookie King Final. She must have slipped past me while I went to get you a glass of water but I saw her talking to you through a crack in the door, and I also saw… I saw…”

 

Kumi trails off for a moment, as tears begin to fall down her face.

 

“I SAW HER KISS YOU. AND I SAW YOU KISS HER BACK” she finally yelled, clamping her arms to her sides as she looks up at her brother, who stares back at her with a bewildered expression.

 

“Kumi, did you  **spy** on me?” Ryo questioned, his voiced laced with betrayal and disbelief, completely dumbfounded that Kumi would ever do something like that. Kumi sniffled, gathering her composure before speaking.

 

“Who is she?” The brunette demands.

 

“You didn’t answer my question.”

 

“ **Who is that woman** ?” 

 

“ **Answer my question Kumi** .” Ryo demands between gritted teeth, quickly losing his patience.

 

“Tell me.”

 

“No.”

 

“Why not.”

 

“Because it’s none of your fucking business that’s why.”

 

“Yes it is.”

 

“No, it isn’t.”

 

“It is too. You’re my big brother, and you’ve been disappearing for days at a time without telling me where you’re going or who you’re with” Kumi argues, taking a step toward Ryo.

 

“That’s exactly the point. I’m you’re big brother, therefor I don’t have to tell you jackshit about where I spend my time, and who I spend it with” Ryo barked, taking a step forward himself, so that he and Kumi were standing inches apart, face to face, glaring at each other with stubborn defiance. Kumi’s eyes narrowed, and her face crinkled into a scowl.

 

“And yet you expect me to do the same for you?” The brunette bites. Ryo’s eyes widen at the clearly rhetorical question.

 

“That’s different, and you know it. I only want to know where you are so I can make sure you’re safe” Ryo defends, returning his sister’s look with a scowl of her own.

 

“Then why can’t I do the same for you?”

 

“Because I’m a 20-fucking-year-old adult who can take care of himself. You, on the other hand, are a 17 year old girl, who seems to have a tough time getting it through you thick skull that the world is an awful place, filled with awful people, who want nothing more than to do awful things to you if you let them” Ryo chided, roughly poking Kumi in the forehead with his index finger. The brunette smacks his hand away, looking at him with an expression of muddled anger, annoyance, confusion, betrayal, and sadness.

 

A small pang of guilt shoots through Ryo’s chest when Kumi groans, turning on her heel before stomping to her room, slamming the door behind her. Ryo can feel his own annoyance rekindle at the incredibly childish display, quickly replacing the guilt he originally felt. Stomping to his own room, Ryo slams the door behind him, throwing his bag against the wall that bordered Kumi’s.

 

“ **JERK** ” a muffled voice yelled from the other room. Ryo kicked the wall in response.

 

“ **BRAT** ” Ryo yelled back, now seething with frustrated and petty anger over how insufferable Kumi was being.

 

He should have just stayed at Rie’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say about this chapter, other than Ryo’s an idiot whose been keeping a big secret from Kumi, and now that secret has been found out, and is coming back to haunt him. Kumi is NOT happy about this strange new blonde lady who seems to have captivated her brother’s time and affections, and Ryo is NOT pleased that his little sister is trying to butt in on his love life. This, guys, gals, and non binary pals, is the epitome of hipocricy. Thanks for reading, leave a comment down below, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 22. Bye!


	22. Hypocrite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

The next few days were absolutely dreadful for Ryo.

 

Kumi had made it a point to not so much as acknowledge her brother’s existence during the few times they saw each other. It was a rather counterintuitive thing to do, considering she was mad because he was never home, but now her silent treatment was only making him want to spend even more time at Rie’s. It wouldn’t have been so bad of an arrangement if it weren’t for the fact that Rie had caught on to Ryo’s foul mood almost immediately after he showed up at her place the next day, and while she hadn’t demanded that he tell her what was going on, Ryo could tell that the blonde was starting to get concerned.

 

It wasn’t until a particularly grueling argument with Kumi one night that Ryo finally snapped, grabbing his things and leaving their apartment, slamming the front door behind him before trudging to Rie’s place, grumbling under his breath the entire way there. 

 

“Stupid little twit… thinking she can tell me what to do… fuckin’ tell me not to see my own goddamn girlfriend… thinks she knows everything…” Ryo grumbles angrily as he barges into Rie’s apartment, catching the blonde off guard.

 

“Ryo, what are you doing here? I thought you said you were going home-”

 

“ **... that fucking little sister of mine…** ” Ryo shouts, throwing his jacket to the ground in anger and tossing his shoes against the wall.

 

“Hey now, don’t be mean to the wall, he didn’t do anything to you” Rie scolds as Ryo trudges over to the blonde, flopping onto the couch where she was sitting and laying his head in the blonde’s lap, his arms crossed over his chest. He was still angry, but the feeling of Rie lifting her hand up to gently comb through Ryo’s hair made him feel a little bit better. Rie always knew how to calm him down.

 

“Wanna talk about it?” The blonde asks after a moment of silence. Ryo frowns, before heaving a tired sigh.

 

“Ah, it’s nothing. Just a fight with my little sister, is all.” 

 

“Come on. It’ll make you feel better” Rie coaxes. Ryo grumbles unintelligibly and avoids her gaze.

 

“What was that?” The blonde asks.

 

“She’s just being annoying and trying to stick her nose in things that don’t concern her” Ryo repeats, a little louder this time.

 

“Oh ya, like what?” Rie asks curiously. Ryo hesitates for a moment.

 

“You.” The blonde looks taken aback.

 

“Me? What does she want to know about me?”

 

“It’s not you specifically it’s just…” Ryo trails off, sitting up.

 

“She keeps asking me where I’m going everyday, and I keep telling her to mind her own business, and the other day she asked me again but she wouldn’t leave me alone about it, so we got into a fight and now the little twit won’t even talk to me” Ryo complains, throwing his hands into the air in defeat. 

 

“Well then, why don’t you just tell her where you are, I mean it’s not like you’re doing anything other than hanging out at my place all night. So just tell her where you are so she can have some peace of mind, she’s just worried about you. I’d feel the same way if my little brother or sister disappeared for days on end only to finally come back home and not tell me where they were for all that time” Rie says, as though it were the easiest thing in the whole world. Ryo’s gaze drops to the floor. 

 

“I can’t…” the raven haired man says, quietly. The blonde looks at him with a confused expression.

 

“Why not?” Why not? Well, there were a variety of reasons why Ryo couldn’t just tell Kumi that he spent 98% of his free time with the girlfriend he had gotten entirely behind her back. 

 

Ironically, very few of those reasons actually had anything to do with Rie specifically, but rather Kumi’s reaction to the blonde once they met. Would his sister like Rie, would the two get along, would they become good friends and accept each other as family, or would Kumi hate Rie, would they fight and argue constantly, every time they saw each other, would Kumi and Rie refuse to accept each other as sisters, and force Ryo to choose between the two most important people in his life: Kumi, his precious little sister, who he vowed with all his heart and soul to protect, love, and take care of, for as long as he lived. And Rie, the confident, kind hearted, and fiery woman who had smashed her way into his life and his heart, and the person who Ryo wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

 

Ryo looks up from the floor when he feels a pair of arms wrap around him, catching Rie’s gaze as she lays her head against his shoulder.

 

“What’s going on in that head of yours, huh?” Rie asks. The raven haired man shakes his head.

 

“It’s nothing, I don’t want to bother you with my problems” Ryo says in a low whisper.

 

“You’re never a bother to me Ryo” the blonde says, placing a hand under Ryo’s chin and forcing the taller man to look at her. “And I’m sure your sister feels the same way.”

 

Ryo shakes his head. “She wouldn’t understand.” Rie laughs at this.

 

“Ryo, she’s a 17 year old girl, of course she’d understand her big brother spending his time at his girlfriend’s house. Hell, an elementary schooler could understand something like that.” Ryo remains silent. The blonde heaves a sigh.

 

“Why do I get the feeling this is about something more than just you not wanting to tell your sister about where you do after boxing?”

 

A moment of silence passes.

 

“What if she leaves me?” Ryo blurts out all of a sudden. Rie narrows her eyes in confusion. “What if she find out that I went and got a girlfriend behind her back, and so she stops listening to me, goes and finds herself a boy behind my back, runs away with him, and then I never see my sister again? What then?”

 

“Ryo, you don’t honestly think your sister would elope with some random guy just because you’re in a relationship now, do you?”

 

“I don’t fucking know, Rie. I’ve spent the last 6 years driving driving away all the fuckboys who think they can have their way with my little sister just by playing the ‘nice boy’ card. So if she finds out that I have a girlfriend, she’ll start thinking all of a sudden that it’s ok for her to have a stupid boyfriend” the raven haired man admits, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

 

“And why can’t she have a boyfriend?” Rie asks, an astonished look on her face.

 

“Did you not hear the part about the fuckboys and trying to have their way with my sister?” Ryo deadpans. 

 

“Oh for goodness sakes, Ryo.”

 

“ **What** ?” The raven haired man squawks indignantly. The blonde crosses her arms over her chest.

 

“So let me get this straight. You don’t want to tell your sister that you have a girlfriend, because you’re afraid that she’ll stop listening to you when you say that she can’t have a boyfriend?” 

 

“Well when you word it like that you make me sound like an asshole.”

 

“That’s because you are an asshole Ryo” Rie says, getting up from the couch and heading into the kitchen.

 

“Are you honestly siding with  **her** ?” Ryo asks, astonished by what he was hearing.

 

“Uh, ya, I am actually” Rie says, sliding a bag of popcorn into the microwave and turning it on. Ryo groaned in frustration, flopping down against the couch. Koda takes the opportunity to hop up on the couch as well, moving to lay his head on Ryo’s lap. The raven haired man begins gently petting the spotted dog.

 

“At least Koda still loves me” Ryo shouts indignantly.

 

“Oh stop that, now you’re just being petty” Rie scolds, pulling the bag of cooked popcorn out of the microwave and opening it, leaving it to cool.

 

“I am not being childish” Ryo argues, childishly. The blonde rolls her eyes, walking back toward the couch and taking a seat on the arm, wrapping her arm around Ryo and pulling him into her. Ryo let's her.

 

“I know you just want to keep your sister safe, and make sure that nobody tries to take advantage of her. But she’s not a little girl anymore. She might not be a full adult just yet, but she’s an independent person who deserves autonomy and privacy of her own. How can you honestly be upset with her for wanting to know where you are and make sure you’re safe, when you expect the exact same thing from her.”

 

“But-”

 

“Ryo how much time do you spend here?” Rie asks. Ryo narrows his eyes.

 

“Why does that matter, it’s not like you care how much time I spend here.”

 

“Answer the question Ryo. How much time do you spend here, with me, instead of at home, with your sister?” 

 

“What… you… but… I…” Ryo stammered, his mouth opening and closing, but nothing intelligible coming out of it. He sighs deeply, dropping his gaze back down to the floor when Rie gives him a pointed look.

 

“A lot” he answers after a moment of hesitation.

 

“Ya, and if your sister started spending days and nights out of the house, not telling you where she was going, would you accept no for an answer when you asked her where she was?”

 

“No.”

 

“No, you wouldn’t. So how can you sit here and say that you’re scared your sister will run away with some boy she just met and abandon you, when as far as she knows, you’ve already run off with some girl you just met and abandoned her?” Rie asks, but this time, Ryo does not answer her question, simply sitting silently on the couch, allowing the twang of guilt he felt from the other night to fester and grow. Rie tightens her hold around Ryo’s shoulders and places a kiss to the top of his head.

 

“You need to go talk to her. I’m not saying you have to do it today. But you owe her an explanation. And an apology” Rie says after a moment of silence. Ryo frowns, but nods his head.

 

“Ya, I know.” Ryo grumbles. “What do I do if she wants to meet you though?”

 

“Then bring her over, I’ll make dinner for us all. Fuck, it's not like I do anything else with my evenings” Rie says casually, digging in to her bag of popcorn and heading back over to the couch, taking a seat and leans against Ryo, turning her attention back to the TV show she was watching. Ryo wraps an arm around her, but can’t bring himself to focus on whatever was flashing on the TV screen, his mind too busy focusing on how he was going to try and talk with Kumi later. 

 

‘Fuck.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rie calls Ryo out on his overzealous habits of controlling Kumi’s love life. As the title suggests, Ryo is a big fat hypocrite when it comes to this topic, mostly because he doesn’t really understand that he’s doing exactly what he doesn’t want Kumi to do, and keeping a huge part of his life a secret from his sister. He doesn’t really do it intentionally or maliciously in my opinion, he just doesn’t realize how much of a hypocrite he’s being because he feels totally justified in his snooping around in Kumi’s love life, while Kumi doing the same to him is just her trying to be nosy and controlling, when in reality they are doing the EXACT SAME THING. Thankfully Rie’s around to help him realize how much of an idiot he’s being. Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you think down in the comments below, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 23. Bye!


	23. When Two Worlds Collide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

This is a bad idea. No, scratch that, this is easily the  **worst** idea Ryo has ever gone along with in the history of his entire life. Every fiber of Ryo’s being told him to start running as fast as his legs would allow him to, and to not stop until he physically could not run anymore, as he and Kumi walked down the street together, on their way to Rie’s apartment.

 

Surprisingly, Ryo had managed to give Kumi the explanation and apology she deserved without too much hassle, and his sister had, also surprisingly, accepted his genuine apology, and forgiven him. Ryo was feeling rather proud of himself as he walked away from that conversation, but it wasn’t until he stupidly mentioned that Rie had kinda-sorta invited both him and Kumi over for dinner, that things took a sour turn. 

 

Naturally, Ryo had fully expecting Kumi to shy away and reject the invitation, wanting nothing to do with Ryo’s new girlfriend. But of course this wasn’t the case, because despite all the wonderful things that have happened to Ryo over the past few months, it was moments like this that reminded the raven haired man that the universe still very much hated him. A brief moment of silence had fallen over the siblings as Kumi hesitated for a moment before giving her answer, and unfortunately for Ryo, his sister had decided to accept the offer. 

 

While lying to Kumi was something that Ryo could get away with rather easily, due to his sister’s naivety and shy personality, lying to Rie was not something he could even remotely get away with, due to the fact that a) the blonde could read him like an open book, b) the idea of lying to his girlfriend about something like this made his stomach twist uncomfortably and left a bad taste on the back of his tongue, and c) Rie could, and would, beat the ever living shit out of him, if he so much as thought about doing it. So as awkward as this whole situation was, both the Mashiba siblings found themselves headed to Rie’s, whether they wanted to or not.

 

The sun had yet to completely set by the time Ryo opened the front door to Rie’s apartment building, and headed inside after Kumi. 

 

“Afternoon, Mr. Sato” Ryo greeted the older man who sat behind the front desk, pushing the button for the elevator, Kumi standing silently beside him, observing her brother’s every move. The old desk manager looks up from the book perched in his lap and smiles when he sees Ryo.

 

“Ah, Good Afternoon to you as well, Mashiba. How is your boxing training coming along? I’ve heard you’ve been doing very well in the Jr. Lightweight class recently.” The older man comments.

 

“Ya, it’s going pretty good. Rie told me your grandson enjoyed the tickets we got for him.”

 

“Yes, he did. His parents and I weren’t quite sure if he’d enjoy something like a boxing match, but I suppose we were all wrong in that regard. He’s been begging me to get him tickets to your upcoming matches” Mr. Sato chuckles. The elevator dings and the doors open.

 

“Well I’ll see what I can do about getting you some more at some point. Good night Mr. Sato.”

 

“Good night, Mashiba. Oh, before I forget, do tell Miss Araya that there’s a package waiting for her in the mail room once she gets the chance.”

 

“Will do” Ryo says as he and Kumi entered the elevator. The elevator ride up was quite possibly the most tense 45 seconds of Ryo’s entire life, and he could already feel his palms beginning to sweat inside his jacket pocket, his mind racing with all the various ways this whole thing could fall apart and blow up in his face. 

 

Ryo took a deep breath as he stood in front of Rie’s door, his heart pounding in his chest as he felt his little sister’s eyes staring at the back of his head. He raised his fist and pounded it 3 times against the door. A moment of silence passed, and Ryo briefly wondered if there was still time to turn around and avoid this clusterfuck waiting to happen altogether. The click of the door unlocking told him it was already too late.

 

The dark wooden door swung open, revealing Rie, dressed in a regular t-shirt and jeans. She smiles when she looks up and sees Ryo standing there.

 

“Hey you” she greets, rising up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss to Ryo’s cheek, which the raven haired man would have gladly accepted, and maybe even taken a little more, if it weren’t for the fact that Kumi was standing right behind him, a bewildered expression on her face at the display between her older brother, and this strange, unfamiliar woman. 

 

Rie, finally noticing Kumi standing behind Ryo, practically lights up, a grin spreading across her face as she approaches the younger girl.

 

“Hi! You must be Kumi” Rie greets excitedly. “Oh my god, this is awesome! Ryo’s told me so much about you, it’s so great to finally meet you.”

 

Kumi stares at Rie with a look of apprehension and uncertainty, looking like she’s not entirely sure what to think of the bright-eyed blonde standing in front of her. 

 

“Um, yes, it’s very nice to meet you as well” Kumi squeaks, bowing politely. 

 

“Hey, no need to be so polite, I don’t bite” Rie reassures, casting Ryo a flirtatious look. “Much.”

 

Ryo’s face turns a bright shade of red at Rie’s suggestive comment, and the raven haired man doesn’t even grace the blonde with a response, instead leaving the two girls behind and heading inside her apartment. Koda immediately jumps off the couch, running over to Ryo and running circles around the man, stopping only when Ryo puts his stuff down and begins scratching him behind the ear.

 

“Koda!” Kumi says excitedly, causing the spotted dog to abandon Ryo in favor of running over to his sister. Kumi laughs as Koda licks at her face. Rie smiles at the sight as she closes her front door.

 

“Ok, so things have been a lot more hectic for me at work than I thought they’d be, so I’m a little behind in terms of prepping everything for dinner, but it shouldn’t take me too much longer to get everything read. You like pork cutlets right Kumi?” Rie asks as she heads back into the kitchen. 

 

“Oh, yes I do” the brunette responds. “Would you like any help with making dinner?”

 

“If you wouldn’t mind helping me cut up some vegetables for the rice, that would be great” Rie says. Ryo stands awkwardly in the living room while Rie and Kumi start chopping vegetables, not necessarily talking to one another, but not ignoring each other either. Something about the silence that filled the apartment was less than comforting to the raven haired man however, as he hoped and prayed that this wasn’t an indication that the two girls hated each other already. 

 

“Ryo, how was work?” Rie asks while she chops up an union and throws it into a pan.

 

“It was fine” the raven haired man responds, moving to take a seat at the breakfast bar in front of where the two girls were working.

 

“Ya? How’s Mr. Tanaka doing?”

 

“He’s fine. He keeps asking when you’re coming back to say hi.” Rie laughs.

 

“Really? Well that’s sweet of him. Are there any other parties coming up soon that we can go to, like that Summer Solstice one you took me to?”

 

“You went to the Summer Solstice party?” Kumi asks, ceasing her chopping to look at Rie in surprise. 

 

“Ya, Ryo took me last summer. It was tons of fun. He introduced me to his boss and all his coworkers, I danced nonstop with a bunch of random dudes for like an hour, I threatened somebody at one point, and then Ryo had to carry me back to my apartment because my feet were bleeding” Rie explains, listing off the events on her fingers. Ryo pretends not to notice Kumi staring at him now, clearly wanting to say something about this, one of the many little facts and details he had yet to tell her about, but thankfully chooses to keep her mouth shut.

 

“Ryo, can you do me a favor and pull out the bread crumbs from the oven, please?” Rie asks, beginning to cut the pieces of pork out of their packaging. Wordlessly, Ryo stands up from his seat and heads into kitchen, grabbing a towel hanging up on the fridge before opening the oven and taking out the pan of breadcrumbs, putting them on top of the oven.

 

“Thank you, love” the blonde thanks, smiling at him. Ryo hums in response. He wasn’t entirely sure when Rie had started calling him that, she just started doing it one day after they started dating, and despite how cheesy the nickname was, Ryo could never bring himself to tell her to stop. It would be a cold day in hell before he ever admitted that he actually liked it, thought. 

 

The next hour passes in relative silence as Kumi and Rie continue preparing the meal, with Ryo staying out of the way for the most part, not wanting to get in the way or accidentally fuck something up just by touching it, as he has somehow managed to do in the past.

 

“Rie, did you make that bread dough yourself?” Kumi asks curiously, eyeing the large roll of dough that Rie was currently braiding and placing into a pan. The blonde smiles.

 

“I did! It’s a sourdough recipe my mom taught me when I was little.”

 

“Isn’t your mom a professional cook or something?” Ryo asks.

 

“Yup, she started out as a linguist and graduated with her bachelors, but decided to go to culinary school after graduation and become a chef. She’s been working at this fancy restaurant in London for the last 16 years or so now.”

 

“Your mom works in London?” Kumi asks, her eyes wide awe and amazement. Rie laughs.

 

“Ya, my family lives there too. I was originally born in a city called Bristol, but we moved to London when I was 5 so my mum could work at a better restaurant, and my dad could get a job as a professor at Imperial College of London.”

 

“Wow” Kumi whispers. “What does he teach?”

 

“Mostly science and engineering. He does a lot of research for the school as well, so I think he’s only teaching grad school classes at the moment” Rie explains.

 

“So he’s a researcher as well?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“That’s incredible” Kumi praises. 

 

“Ya I’d say it is. So what about you Kumi? You’re still in highschool, right? What are you planning on doing after graduation?” Rie asks, curiously.

 

“Well, I have an internship at a local hospital right now, and I’m planning on working there full time as a nurse once I finish up with school in a few weeks” Kumi replies.

 

“Nice! You certainly seem like the kind of person who’d be good in that sort of job” Rie says. Kumi blushes slightly.

 

“Oh, well thank you.”

 

Ryo watches the two girls from his seat at the breakfast bar, talking and laughing and telling stories to one another. It was hard to imagine that just a few hours ago, Kumi had been nothing but hesitant and averse to meeting Rie, unsure of what to do or how to act around the energetic blonde. From the way they acted around each other now, you’d think the two had been best friends for years. 

 

“And then after you’ve left him a few solid hints that you like him, all you have to do is act cute and flirty, and he’ll be putty in your hand in no time.” Oh well, Ryo certainly wasn’t going to complain about this new development… wait what?

 

“Hey, what are you talking about over there?” Ryo asks, narrowing his eyes and leaning over the breakfast bar to try and get a better listen in on the conversation Rie and Kumi were having by the refrigerator. Rie turns around and gives him a look, the one that tells Ryo that he’s butting I’m on something he shouldn't be butting in on. 

 

“Go away. It’s none of your business” the blonde states firmly, turning back to Kumi and continuing to whisper something to her. Ryo groans, annoyed, but completely unsurprised that this was happening. Of fucking course Rie would use this as an opportunity to ‘advise’ Kumi in all the things Ryo wanted her to stay as far away from as possible. 

 

Heaving a sigh, Ryo stands up from his seat and heads over to the two girls. Wrapping his arms around Rie’s waist he lifts the blonde into the air and carries her toward her bedroom. Rie yells in surprise while Kumi gasps in shock. 

 

“Ryo, what do you think you’re doing?” Kumi tells after them, her face a light pink color as her older brother throws a now screaming Rie over his shoulder and carries her toward the bedroom. 

 

“ASSHOLE, PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW OR ELSE” Rie screams in protest, thrashing to and fro in Ryo’s arms, but alas, her attempts at escape are futile, as Ryo merely tightens his grip as he carries her into her bedroom, closing the door behind them before dropping Rie back on her feet. 

 

“What are you doing?” Ryo asks, looking down at Rie with an unamused expression. 

 

“What do you mean ‘what am I doing’? I’m trying to have a conversation with your sister, but that’s a little difficult with you hauling me off into another part of my apartment” Rie clips back, placing her hands on her hips. 

 

“Ya, that’s great and all, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t give her any ideas. I already have enough trouble keeping the idiots at her school off of her, without you giving her  **dating advice** ” Ryo grits through his teeth. Rie rolls her eyes and groans in annoyance. 

 

“Ryo, I thought we already talked about this. You can’t control her or who she dates. She’s nearly a fully grown woman who can make her own decisions, and regardless of whether you’re trying to protect her or not, it’s not your decision as to whether or not she dates someone.” 

 

“Oh for fucks sake Rie can you please  just…” Ryo trails off, moving to open the door, where Kumi was currently leaning against, trying to listen in to their conversation. She turns bright red at having been caught.

 

“ **Do you fucking mind** ?” Ryo fumed at his little sister. Rie rolls her eyes, moving to wrap her arms around Kumi’s shoulders and walk back to the kitchen.

 

“Ignore him, let's get back to what we were talking about.”

  
“ **DO NOT IGNORE ME** ” Ryo yells from the bedroom, where his little sister and girlfriend had abandoned him in favor of returning to their hushed conversation about boys and dating and all sorts of other things that Ryo didn’t want them talking about. The raven haired man groans, trudging back into the kitchen and returning to his seat at the breakfast bar, begrudgingly watching at the two girls continue to laugh and giggle amongst themselves. He didn’t like that Rie was giving Kumi unsolicited dating advice, but unfortunately he was outnumbered and outranked, so unless he wanted both his sister  **and** his girlfriend upset with him, he’d just have to bear with it and hope that Kumi doesn’t get any bright ideas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really all to much to say about this chapter, just Rie and Kumi finally meeting each other after *checks chapter index* 22 chapters of complete mayhem. Poor Ryo, now he has to deal with Rie trying to give Kumi dating advice. Thanks so much for reading, make sure to leave a comment and I’ll see you guys soon for chapter 24. Bye!


	24. Understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy

The trio sits down for dinner not long after their previous altercation, digging in to the pork cutlets, fried rice, and fresh bread that Rie had prepared for them. Ryo practically inhales his food, shoving whole spoonfuls into his mouth one after the other, pausing only when he notices both Kumi and Rie staring at him.

 

“What?” He asks through a mouthful of food. 

 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full” Kumi scolds, hitting her hand against Ryo’s shoulder. Rie laughs.

 

“Oh, leave him alone, he’s fine” the blonde says, gently rubbing at the spot where Kumi had hit Ryo. The raven haired man sends a shit eating grin to his younger sister, sticking his tongue out at her childishly. Rie laughs as Kumi returns the gesture. 

 

Once they finish their dinner, the trio sit and chat for a while. It’s mostly Rie and Kumi doing the talking, with Ryo adding little comments and quips when necessary, his attention focused primarily on the game of tug-o-war he was playing with Koda. It’s well past sunset by the time Ryo and Kumi are getting their shoes on to leave.

 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you home? It’s a little late to be walking around” Rie offers, leaning against the wall next to the door.

 

“No thank you, it’s not too far of a walk for us. Plus it’s been so nice out recently that I’d hate to miss out on the chance to enjoy it before it got hot” Kumi says politely.

 

“Well alright, but make sure you let me know when you get home” Rie says, getting up from the wall.

 

“Thank you so much for inviting me over” Kumi says, bowing politely to the blonde in front of her. “It was wonderful to meet you and I greatly enjoyed being able to talk with you.”

 

Rie laughs. “Well it was great to finally meet you too, Kumi. I can’t wait to go see you graduate in May, it’ll be like going to my high school graduation all over again.”

 

“Great!” Kumi says happily. The two girls burst out laughing at something that Ryo must have missed out on. Oh well, he supposed it didn’t really matter all that much, so long as Rie and Kumi continued to get along like they have been. The two siblings bid Rie good night before heading out of her apartment toward home. They walk in silence for a little while before Kumi finally speaks.

 

“I’m sorry I got mad at you” the brunette says, catching Ryo off guard.

 

“What are you apologizing for?” The raven haired man asks, confused. Kumi averts her gaze to the ground.

 

“When I saw you kissing Rie in the medical room after the Rookie King Tournament I… I got scared. I always sort of knew that you were spending your time with someone when you weren’t at work or training, even before I knew who it was, but it wasn’t until after I saw how you acted around her, or the way you looked at her, like she was the center of your whole universe, that I finally understood why you were always gone. After that, you started staying out longer, coming home later and later every single day, and before I knew it, you would be gone for days at a time. I had no idea where you were or who you were with, and no matter how much I tried to be happy that you were out spending your time with people, instead of sitting at home sulking… I couldn’t help but feel like I was losing you.” Kumi explains. Ryo remains silent, looking at his sister out of the corner of his eye.

 

“I know it sounds really stupid, but that’s just how it felt, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t help but be jealous that someone else was able to make you so happy, when the only thing I’ve ever been to you was a burden-”

 

“Hey now, don’t say that. I’ve never once thought of you as a burden. You know that” Ryo says, cutting Kumi off. The brunette comes to a stop, her gaze still fixed to the ground.

 

“I know you don’t” she says softly. “But just because you don’t think it, doesn’t mean it isn’t true, and that’s why I was so scared. I was scared that after finding someone who you really, truly loved, who made you so incredibly happy and gave you all the things I couldn’t, I was afraid you’d finally realize how much of a burden I was and… and…”

 

Ryo furrows his brows as tears begin to collect under his little sister’s eyes.

 

“And you’d leave me” Kumi admits, her voice beginning to shake. Ryo reaches forward, wiping the tears away with his thumb, gently.

 

“Kumi look at me” the raven haired man says softly. Kumi looks up at him finally, her eyes slightly puffy.

 

“I promised Mom and Dad from the day you were born, that no matter what happened to them, I would always protect you, and I’ve done everything I could to make good on that promise. I’m not gonna say that I’ve been perfect, or even good at doing it, but I’d just as soon chop off my own goddamn head than let anything bad ever happen to you. I’m your big brother, and you’re my little sister, and I’m always gonna be there for you whenever you need me” Ryo says, putting a hand on her shoulder.

 

“I know I should have told you about Rie from the very beginning, and I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you when you tried to confront me about it. I guess I didn’t want you finding out about her because…” Ryo trails off for a moment, unsure how he should word this. “I guess… I didn’t want you to abandon me.”

 

“Why… why would I do that?” Kumi asks, a look of confusion spread across her face. Ryo shrugs his shoulders.

 

“Ever since Mom and Dad died, I’ve caused you nothing but trouble. You’re always there for me, and you’ve bailed me out of trouble more times than I can count. I was afraid if you saw I got a girlfriend that you’d go out, get yourself a boyfriend, and run off with him, once you finally got tired of dealing with me” Ryo admits reluctantly. “So that’s why I kept her a secret from you.”

 

Silence falls over the two siblings for a moment, which is interrupted when Kumi launches herself at Ryo. The raven haired man grunts as his sister wraps her arms tightly around his middle, burying her face into his chest like she did when he was little.

 

“You’re the best big brother in the whole wide world, and I’d never even think about abandoning you” Kumi says, her voice muffled by his jacket. Ryo gently places his hand on Kumi’s back. The brunette let's go after a moment, looking up at her older brother with a smile.

 

“I’m still a little mad about you lying to me about Rie, and for making me worry about you so much. But now that you’ve told me all that, I understand why you did it. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I realize that we did what we did because we were afraid that we’d end up abandoned by the other” Kumi realizes, chuckling slightly to herself. Ryo allows a small smile to spread across his lips.

 

“Ya, I guess we were” he says aloud, though more to himself than anyone else. The two siblings continue walking on for a little while, falling into a comfortable silence as they approach their shared apartment.

 

“You know” Kumi says after a while, catching Ryo’s attention. “Despite how afraid we both were about what was happening, I’m glad we were able to come to a resolution about it. When we were fighting, I thought that maybe that was the beginning of me losing you to Rie, but I’m happy that’s not how things turned out. I’m also happy about Rie now, too. She so nice and kind and amazing, a part of me still can’t believe that she’s even real.”

 

‘Ya, you and me both’ Ryo thinks to himself.

 

“I don’t think there’s another person alive on earth who would be better for my big brother than her” Kumi states, smiling up at Ryo. “And besides… I’ve always wanted an older sister.”

 

It takes a moment for that last sentence to sink in, but once it does, Ryo furrows his brows at Kumi, a confused look on his face.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The raven haired man asks, slightly offended. Kumi bursts out laughing.

 

“Oh nothing” she says, taking off toward their apartment. “Come on Ryo, hurry up.”

 

Ryo stands and stares at his sister as she runs up the stairs to their apartment. He’s not entirely sure what it is, but for some reason, Kumi seems happier than she usually does, and not in the same way she was when that loser Makunouchi was making rounds at the bakery she worked at. This time around, Kumi seemed more… excited, more outgoing, than usual. Maybe it was because the two of them were no longer fighting, or maybe it was because Rie had some sort of positive effect on her, not quite like the effect she had on Ryo, but an effect nonetheless.

 

As Ryo followed Kumi into their apartment, allowing the younger girl to chatter on and on about everything and anything, Ryo wonders why he was ever worried about Rie and Kumi not getting along. Hell, if he’d just taken Kumi to see Rie from the beginning, this whole thing might have been avoided altogether. Oh well, what’s done is done and all that matters is that things worked out well in the end.

 

“Ryo, do you think Rie would mind if I went over to her apartment to talk to her every once in a while?” Kumi asks at some point that night. A small smile spreads across his lips.

 

“Nah. In fact, I’m sure she’d be more than happy to have you.”

 

Looks like Kumi’s getting a big sister after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A heartfelt conversation between Kumi and Ryo, how sweet! Thanks so much for reading, leave a comment, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 25. Bye!!! <3


	25. Behave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

Kumi’s graduation came that very next month, and despite wanting to show his support for his younger sister’s academic accomplishments, Ryo could not have been more annoyed that he was forced to go to it.

 

“Rieeeeeeeeeeee” Ryo whines as the blonde practically drags him and Koda down the street toward Kumi’s high school, growing increasingly more annoyed with her boyfriend with each passing second.

 

“Ryo for the last fucking time. **Shut** . **Up**. Before I fucking kill you” Rie threatens, sending a menacing glare back at her boyfriend. Ryo is unaffected by the empty threat.

 

“I just don’t see the point in going to a stupid high school graduation when we could do something else for Kumi, like take her out to dinner, or buy her a new bag, or I don’t know, something else that doesn’t involve sitting in a sweaty room surrounded by a sea of sobbing parents for 3 hours.”

 

“Oh stop it, you’re just mad because I wouldn’t give you a blowjob before we left my place, aren’t you?”

 

“ **That is NOT what I am mad about** ” Ryo grits through his teeth, his face turning cherry red as he looks over his shoulder nervously, making sure that nobody heard that incredibly inappropriate statement Rie just made. As much as Ryo enjoys the various ‘activities’ he and Rie get up to on the nights where he stays over at her place, that doesn’t mean he wants other people knowing anything about the intimate areas of their relationship. The last thing Ryo needs right now, or at any point in time really, is people asking incredibly invasive and personal questions regarding whether or not he and Rie have had sex yet. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that the answer to that question was still a resounding ‘no’.

 

While it was true that sex was something massively appealing to Ryo, and something that made regular appearances throughout his nightly fantasies, at the same time, it wasn’t like Ryo was in a massive rush to do it like most guys his age were, not when he was perfectly satisfied with what he and Rie were doing currently. Despite the fact that Ryo has known Rie for over a year now, and has been dating her for 4 months, something about the idea of having sex with her just made him…  nervous. What if Rie ended up not liking it? What if Ryo accidentally hurt her? What if he was really bad because he didn’t know what he was doing? What if Rie broke up with him because it turned out that he was a dead fuck? All these questions and more flew around inside his head whenever Rie playfully crawled on top of him, pressing their lips together earnestly and grinding her pelvis against his in a way that short circuited Ryo’s brain. Of course Rie never forced him to do something he didn’t want to, and Ryo would sooner chop his own dick off than force Rie to do something she wasn’t comfortable with, but of course, the thoughts were still there.

 

“Alright, listen up you” Rie says to Ryo, as they finally arrive at Kumi’s school, which just so happens to be the exact same high school that Ryo graduated from 3 years ago, albeit by the skin of his teeth. Koda immediately lays down on the sidewalk once the couple comes to a stop.

 

“I know you’re not particularly happy about dealing with this overdone ceremony for a second time, trust me I’m not looking forward to sitting around doing nothing for 3 hours either. But today is Kumi’s special day, so regardless of what you or I want, we are going to go in there, sit our asses down in that crowd, and cheer for her and all the hard work she’s put in. Got it?” Rie says firmly, her tone indicating that there was absolutely no room for arguments or negotiations. Ryo rolls his eyes with a groan, but ultimately decides to say nothing.

 

Rie’s right. Ryo knows that Rie’s right, because Rie’s right about everything, which is both a blessing and a curse all rolled up into one. It’s not that Ryo doesn’t think Kumi deserves to be recognized for all her accomplishments over the past three years. Of course Kumi deserves to be celebrated after all the hard work she put into doing well in school, on top of working part time at the bakery to help support them, as well as her internship at the hospital, which will result in a full-time job as soon as she graduates. It’s just that Ryo would rather celebrate his sister’s accomplishments with something that they could enjoy together, just the three of them, instead of sitting around in a big, sweaty gymnasium, for hours on end, forced to watch a bunch of kids he didn’t care about graduate, before finally getting to Kumi. But of course, Rie had been adamant about both of them attending Kumi’s graduation, so to her graduation they went.

 

“Ya alright, fine” Ryo grumbles, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to talk his was out of this situation, not that he’d ever had much luck with that before. Rie looks up at Ryo for a moment before a sly smirk makes its way onto her lips. She takes a step toward Ryo.

 

“Tell you what. If you promise to behave, and not give Kumi any trouble on her special day, I’ll give you a special _reward_ later” Rie says, her voice taking on a song-like cadence toward the end of her statement. This catches Ryo’s attention.

 

“What kind of reward?” He asks, eyeing the blonde out the corner of his eye. The sly smirk only widens as she tugs Ryo down to her level.

 

“Behave, and you’ll find out” the blonde whispers, the feeling of her lips tickling against Ryo’s ear sends a shiver down the raven haired man’s spine. God, the things this woman could do to him with the simplest of actions.

 

“Uh… ya sure, I can do that” Ryo says, hastily, his mouth feeling very dry all of a sudden. Rie smiles, placing a gentle kiss to his cheek.

 

“Good boy” she coos, turning and heading inside the courtyard to Kumi’s school. Ryo follows after her, tugging Koda up from the ground. The school is exactly how Ryo remembers it, which only serves to bring up a variety of memories that he’d rather continue repressing. At one point, Rie reached out and grabbed Ryo’s hand, not necessarily dragging him along like she was previously, but simply making sure that they didn’t accidentally lose each other in the large crowd.

 

Once they finally arrive at their seats, the pair sit down and observe the small, but ever-growing, crowd in silence, Koda laying down at their feet. Thankfully, there don’t seem to be too many people in the crowd that Ryo remembers from school.

 

“Hey Mashiba!” Ryo pales as a familiar voice calls out his name from somewhere in the gymnasium. Rie looks at him with a concerned expression.

 

“You alright, love?”

 

“No. No I am not” Ryo groans as a familiar looking young man approaches him.

 

“Mashiba, is that really you?” The young man asks, leaning down to get a better look at the raven haired man, who was trying to cover his face with the program pamphlet, to no avail.

 

“Oh man, it really is you. I’d recognize that face anywhere” Nishimura laughs, turning around.

 

“Hey guys, come over here. You’ll never guess who I found” the young man yells, a group of similarly aged young men, dressed like a bunch of delinquents, trudge on over.

 

“Hey, wait a second, isn’t that Mashiba?”

 

“Oh wow, it is Mashiba.”

 

“Ya, you’re right.”

 

“Man he hasn’t changed a bit.”

 

“Ya, he’s just as ugly looking as I remember.”

 

“Hahaha, ya that’s for sure.”

 

Never before in his life had Ryo wanted to jump off the roof of a building and end his miserable life more than he did in this exact moment, as 6 of his former classmates all ganged up and picked on him, just like they did back in high school. And the worst part of it all, is that it's just as awful as he remembers it.

 

“Um, excuse me” Rie snaps, halting the group of boy’s laughter as they stare in awe at the beautiful blonde woman sitting next to their victim. One of the boys saunters up to Rie, a cocky smirk on his face.

 

“Hey there gorgeous, what’s a pretty face like you doing in a dump like this?” he asks, practically shoving Ryo out of his chair and onto the floor to get to Rie, who looks at the advancing male with apprehension and disgust. Koda crawls under Ryo’s chair, whimpering with his tail between his legs. Ryo growls in anger and frustration, but does nothing except get off the floor and fix his former classmate with an ugly glare. As much as he wanted to beat the ever living shit out of the little snot-nosed brat, Ryo refused to allow his anger to ruin Kumi’s day, again, even if it meant he had to let these sorry losers walk all over him for a little while. Thankfully Rie pipes up for him.

 

“Well, if you must know, I’m here because I’m trying to enjoy the graduation ceremony, but that’s a little difficult at the moment, especially considering that you just knocked my **boyfriend** out of his chair” Rie bites at the leering man, emphasizing the word ‘boyfriend’. The 6 men exchange confused glances for a moment before bursting out laughing, which catches both Ryo and Rie off guard.

 

“Mashiba‘s your boyfriend?”

 

“Oh man that’s rich.”

 

“I never thought I’d see the day.”

 

“You really must be a pretty desperate lady if you’re forcing yourself to fuck this loser.”

 

“Forget scraping the bottom of the barrel, she’s licking dirt off the floor.”

 

Ryo grinds his teeth together and digs his nails into his fists, doing everything in his power to resist the overwhelming urge to let his fists fly on these pathetic fucks. Ryo’s anger begins to subside slightly when he looks over at Rie, noticing the blonde’s expression. To anyone who didn’t know Rie as well as Ryo did, the blonde’s expression might have appeared to be blank, as though she had completely checked out from the current situation, and everything going on around her, but Ryo knew better. Ryo wasn’t entirely certain if there was a word in the Japanese language, or any language even, that could accurately describe just how much pure, unfiltered, seething rage was building up behind that blank expression, or how someone as small and easy-going as Rie could even produce that much anger, but whatever the cause or reason behind it was, Ryo quickly decided that he didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire when Rie decided to let it loose.

 

“Alright, listen up **fuckwads** ” Rie spits at the 6 boys, catching them all off guard. “I don’t give a damn who you are, where you came from, or what you think about me, but if you think that I’m just gonna sit here and let you insult my boyfriend, you’ve got another fucking thing coming.”

 

By this point, people are beginning to notice the altercation occurring between a group of shady looking young men, and a very small, angry blonde woman, who looks like she’s about ready to rip somebody’s head off. Most of the whispers that Ryo can hear from where he stands are in concern for Rie’s safety as she stares down a group of petty delinquents, and if Ryo didn’t know any better, he’d probably be pretty worried for her too. Good thing Ryo knows his girlfriend well enough to see that she’s not the one whose in any danger right now.

 

“Oh boy, better be careful Masaru, looks like we’ve got a fiesty one on our hands” one of the other boys says sarcastically, and all his friends promptly burst out laughing at his comment.

 

“You boys want feisty?” Rie asks, a wicked smile spreading across her face. “I’ll show you feisty you **little FUCKERS**.”

 

With that, Rie launches herself at the man in front of her, winding her right arm back before finally sinking her fist right into the center of his face and knocking the larger man with enough force to send the pathetic loser flying backwards, taking one of his friends with him, before finally landing in the row of chairs on the opposite side of the aisle. The man who Rie socked directly in the face flailed around on the ground, moaning and crying out, his hand covering his now bleeding face.

 

“Oh, my nose, my nose, what the fuck did you do to my nose, you stupid bitch” the young man wails, his voice sounding very nasally due to the amount of blood streaming out of his now very broken nose.

 

Ryo is certain that it would have felt amazing to knock that little fucker out himself, but for some reason, the fact that Rie was the one to lay a solid hit on his former high school ‘bully’ was not only the perfect revenge for all the grief these losers gave him back in school, but also incredibly satisfying to watch, and perhaps even the slightest bit arousing, as strange as that might sound.

 

“You crazy bitch. What the hell was that?” One of the boys not currently splayed out on the floor growls at the blonde.

 

“Who? You mean me?” Rie asks, her innocent tone of voice a complete contrast to the cocky smirk plastered on her face. This seems to surprise the 6 boys, who now looked at the blonde with a mixture of awe and fear, as she slowly approached them.

 

“Well, I can’t say very much, but I suppose I can let you in on a little secret” Rie begins, standing face to face with one of the boys, who looked about 2 seconds away from shitting himself. “Let's just say there are a lot of perks to having a professional boxer for a boyfriend.”

 

Ryo takes this as his cue. The 6 young men all pale, their faces filling with pure terror as Ryo steps forward to stand behind Rie, cracking his knuckles, a wicked grin of his own spreading across his face. A moment of silence passes as the 6 men stare at the two demons standing before them, before finally returning to reality.

 

“R-Run” one of them yells, and the others quickly follow suit, turning around and hightailing it out of the gymnasium. Something about watching his former tormentors running with their tails between their legs was intensely satisfying to Ryo. It didn’t erase all the years of being picked on like he thought it would, but it definitely made the memories of all those horrible times sting a hell of a lot less. Ryo looks down at Rie after a moment, the blonde is currently craning her head back so she can look at him. She smiles at him.

 

“How was my right cross?” Rie says sweetly, as though she hadn’t just completely obliterated a guy twice her size using the punch that Ryo had taught her.

 

‘God, I love this woman’ Ryo thinks to himself before answering her question.

 

“Your arm was a little bent at the end and your center of gravity was a little off, but, all in all, not bad for a novice” Ryo shrugs, allowing a small smile to make its way on his face as he leans down to press a kiss to Rie’s forehead. The blonde giggles happily as the people around them continue to whisper, some of them in awe and shock over Rie’s absolutely phenomenal punch, others saying that they should probably stay as far away from the strange pair as physically possible.

 

A teacher comes up to them a few moments later, asking if everything was alright and if either of them were hurt. Rie hides her blood covered fist behind her back, wiping it off with a tissue from her bag once the teacher has walked away. Her knuckles were a bit bruised and sore, but other than that, Rie thankfully hadn’t accidentally injured her own fist in the process of breaking that other guy’s nose.

 

“The soreness will go away in a few days and the bruises will be gone by next week. You’ll be just fine” Ryo assures after taking a moment to carefully inspect the blonde’s fist for any potential injuries, just in case.

 

Things settle down a few moments later, and Ryo and Rie finally sit back down, enjoying the comfortable silence that falls over the gym for a few moments, before the principle walks up to the podium, tapping on the microphone to ensure it was on, and beginning the graduation ceremony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIE IS A BADASS. RIE IS A BADASS. RIE IS A BADASS WHO I WOULD GLADLY GIVE MY LIFE FOR!!!! That is all. Thanks, comment, love you, bye!


	26. Surprise Guest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

The graduation ceremony went the exact same way it did when Ryo graduated high school. Each student was called up by name, congratulated for all their hard work, and finally handed their diploma, before exiting the stage as their family and friends clap and cheer for them. 

 

When it was finally Kumi’s turn to accept her diploma, Rie cheered as loud as she could, while Ryo put to fingers to his mouth, letting out a high pitch whistle as the brunette shyly accepted her diploma. Ryo couldn’t help the small smile that made its way onto his face, his chest filling with an immense feeling of pride as Kumi bowed politely for the crowd, smiling and waving at her friends as she walked off the stage.

 

Ryo knows that Kumi couldn’t care less about whether or not she goes to college or not, having stated that even if she had gone, she probably would have simply gone to nursing school to become a nurse, something she’s already done for free through her internship. Despite this, a small part of the raven haired man can’t help but feel just the smallest bit guilty. If it hadn’t been for their financial situation, which was only good because both the siblings were working and only bought things if they were absolutely necessary, Kumi would be getting a college education. But unfortunately, it just wasn’t realistic for them right now, and the last thing Ryo ever wanted to do was take out a bunch of loans they were never going to be able to pay back. 

 

Prior to his parents deaths, Ryo himself had been planning on going to college. He’d never been a star student, who had the highest grades of all his classmates and got perfect scores on everything, but he had always done remarkably well, and he even graduated high school in the top 10% of his class, despite everything that happened during his 3rd year. Ryo’s best subjects were always math and science, which was rather ironic considering that both his parents detested the sciences, so he definitely didn’t get his talents from them, and chemistry had been his favorite class for as long as he could remember. So in the event he had gone to college, Ryo probably would have studied something within that general field.

 

Naturally, college became an impossible dream for Ryo after the fateful car accident that took both his parents away from him, forcing him to fend for himself, while also taking care of Kumi, who he refused to allow to drop out of school so she could work full time. Despite Ryo’s secret desire for Kumi to go to college, and have the opportunity to receive the education he never could, a part of Ryo is also glad that Kumi has decided to forgo college. Not only are they saving a metric fuckton of money, but it also means that Ryo must have done an ‘ok’ job taking care of Kumi these past three years, since she doesn’t feel the need to ship herself halfway across the country and disappear for the next 4 years, in order to get the hell away from him. So Ryo supposes that must be the silver lining of this whole fiasco.

 

The graduation ceremony ends up lasting only a little over an hour, which is infinitely better than the 3 hours that Ryo, swearing upon his mother’s grave, insists that his lasted. Once the principle dismisses everyone, the couple get up from their seats and exit the gymnasium hand-in-hand, Koda trotting happily beside them, walking aimlessly around the large front courtyard in search of Kumi.

 

“You see her anywhere?” Rie asks, standing up on her tiptoes to peer around, her shorter stature putting the blonde at a slight disadvantage in terms of her field of vision in this crowd. Ryo’s gaze passes lazily over the heads of the parents and students shuffling around them and a moment or so passes before his vision finally zeros in on a familiar head of brown hair.

 

“I found her. This way” Ryo instructs, beginning to lead Rie and Koda through the crowd of people, heading toward the large cherry blossom tree that Kumi and a couple of her friends were standing under, laughing to themselves.

 

“Kumi!” Rie calls, waving her unoccupied hand when the brunette turns around, looking for whoever called her name. Her face lights up when she spots Ryo and Rie, making their way toward her.

 

“Congratulations on graduating, Kumi” Rie says, letting go of Ryo’s hand to hug the younger girl, which Kumi happily reciprocates. 

 

“Thank you so much, I’m so glad you could make it.”

 

“Well of course I did, I wouldn’t miss something like this for the world” Rie assures, smiling brightly at Kumi. The other girls Kumi was just talking to walk up to her, speaking with a low, hushed voices.

 

“Kumi, do you know this woman?”

 

“Ya, who is she?”

 

“How do you know her?”

 

Kumi laughs, turning to her friends.

 

“This is my brother’s girlfriend Rie. She’s the one I was telling you about the other day.” Kumi’s friends all gasp, their faces alight with shock and awe.

 

“This is her?”

 

“Wow, I never would have guessed based off of what you told us?”

 

“I thought you said she was British?”

 

“British doesn’t mean white, Miho.”

 

“Where did she get her outfit?”

 

“She’s so pretty.”

 

Rie laughs, stepping forward toward the group of girls.

 

“Hi girls. Like Kumi said, my name is Rie. It’s so nice to meet you all” the blonde says sweetly. The group of girls immediately surround Rie, complimenting her appearance and asking her all sorts of questions about who she is, what she does, what England is like, how she met Ryo and Kumi, and much more. 

 

Ryo stands awkwardly off to the side with Koda, completely ignored by the group of star-struck girls, which was perfectly fine with him. The raven haired man had met all of Kumi’s friends at one point or another, but to be perfectly honest, he couldn’t remember who any of them were, and frankly, he didn’t really care to relearn who they were either. 

 

A blurry motion from out the corner of his eye catches Ryo’s attention. Looking over, the raven haired man sees the ends of a jacket flying out behind the person, as they run across the courtyard. Whoever this person is, they were too far away and moving too quickly for Ryo to be able to recognize them, so he averts his gaze back to Rie, who's still being swarmed by all of Kumi’s little friends.

 

After a while, Kumi’s friends finally begin to disperse, all of them bidding each other goodby before rejoining their own families, ready to head home and begin their summer vacation. 

 

“Thanks again for coming. I know these sorts of things aren’t very exciting unless you’re in them yourself, but I really appreciate you both coming out to support me” Kumi says, turning to Ryo and Rie, flashing a positively radiant smile.

 

“Nonsense, we were more than happy to come out and cheer for you. After all the hard work you put into doing well in school and graduating with high honors, it would have been wrong for us not to come and celebrate all your accomplishments” Rie says, returning the younger girl’s smile.

 

“Well, I guess now that the ceremony is over, you guys will be heading out, right?” Kumi asks.

 

“Actually...” Rie begins, catching both Kumi and Ryo off guard. “I think a graduation ceremony such as this can only be properly concluded after a nice big celebration lunch, don’t you think?”

 

“Oh, Rie, that’s not necessary” Kumi assures, shaking her head, but the blonde isn’t having any of it.

 

“Nope. I’ve already decided. I’m taking us all out to lunch. It’ll be my treat and you get to pick wherever we go. So hurry up and decide, I skipped out on breakfast this morning, and my stomach is already starting to eat itself.” Kumi chuckles to herself, but shakes her head.

 

“Ok, we can all go out to lunch together. But is it alright if I bring a friend along with me?” Kumi asks. Ryo and Rie exchange glances, and the raven haired man shrugs his shoulders.

 

“Sure, why not?” Rie says. “Whose this friend of yours that you want to bring along?”

 

“Well…” Kumi hesitates, looking nervously at the ground. Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow at his sister, but the realization of why Kumi was being so nervous finally dawns on him, as a short, but well built young man with messy black hair, dressed in a green suit jacket and dress pants, steps out from behind a nearby tree, looking incredibly frightened as he scratches at the back of his head, avoiding any and all eye contact with Ryo.

 

“Um… hello…” the boy stammers, waving nervously at Ryo and Rie. Ryo stares at the young man for a moment before finally speaking.

 

“Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay Kumi graduated high school! Time to start integrating Ippo into this story. Sorry Ryo. Thanks for reading, comment, love you, bye!!! <3


	27. Graduation Lunch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

“KODA YOU GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT, DO YOU HEAR ME? YOU DO NOT BARK AT PEOPLE LIKE THAT” Rie scolds angrily, screaming at the top of her lungs while Koda runs circles around the tree he chased Ippo up, barking madly all the while. Kumi stares in horror as Ippo yells for someone to help him, gripping onto the bark of the tree like his life depended on it. Ryo is currently on the ground, clutching his stomach as he laughed his ass off over how pathetic the other boy looked.

 

“KODA” Rie yelled one last time, finally getting the spotted dogs attention. Koda immediately coils in on himself, walking back to Rie with his head down and his tail between his legs as the blonde glared at him angrily.

 

“Naughty boy, where on earth did you learn that kind of behavior?” Rie scolds, watching as Koda scampers over to Ryo, whimpering sadly as he cowers behind the raven haired man. Ryo sits up, allowing the spotted dog to crawl into his lap.

 

“Don’t listen to her, you did amazing” Ryo whispers to Koda, who immediately perks up in response to the raven haired man scratching behind his ears. 

 

“I thought I told you to behave” Rie growls at Ryo.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Ryo responds, the look on his face indicating that he very much did know what Rie was talking about.

 

“Don’t play dumb with me, you slimy fuck. Since when the hell did I give you permission to turn my sweet baby boy into an attack dog.”

 

“The leash slipped out from my hand, I had no control over him. What the hell do you want me to do?” Ryo shrugs, completely unbothered by Rie’s menacing look. 

 

“You’re hiding something from me.”

 

“I’d like to plead the 5th.”

 

“Ryo we’re in Japan. You can’t plead an American amendment in a foreign country.” 

 

“Objection.” Ryo snickers to himself as the blonde rolls her eyes and groans.

 

“Fine. Have it your way” Rie bites, turning away from Ryo. “I guess this just means that  **someone** isn’t getting his special reward later.”

 

“I saw you sucker punch a dude into a row of chairs like an hour and a half ago. As far as I’m concerned, I already got my fucking reward. So,  **there** !” 

 

“You’re a fucking moron, you know that?” Rie deadpans.

 

“Ya well, I’m your fucking moron, so what does that say about you?” Ryo bites back, smiling triumphantly as he flips Rie his middle finger. 

 

Rie glares at her boyfriend for a moment but decides to simply ignore him for the time being, turning her attention to Kumi, who is currently in the process of checking on Ippo. The younger boy had finally climbed down from the tree Koda chased up him. He looks a bit shaken, and he’s breathing heavily, but he’ll be fine… eventually.

 

“Ippo, are you ok?” Kumi asks, her voice laced with concern.

 

“Uh, ya… I think so” Ippo responds, panting in between words. Rie takes this as her opportunity to step forward.

 

“I’m terribly sorry about Koda. I swear he’s absolutely harmless and a very sweet boy, normally. It’s just that  **SOME PEOPLE** -” Rie says, turning around to glare angrily at Ryo, who responds with a shit eating grin and another middle finger. 

“-are a terrible influence on him.”

 

“O-oh” Ippo stammers, blushing slightly as Rie approaches.

 

“Ippo, this is my big sister Rie. Rie, this is Makunouchi Ippo, the boy I was telling you about before” Kumi says, introducing the two.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Ippo. Kumi’s told me so much about you” the blonde says, smiling kindly and extending her hand out for Ippo to shake. The younger boy blushes but returns the gesture.

 

“Um, ya, it’s nice to meet you too” Ippo says shyly, before a thought crosses his mind.

 

“Wait, big sister? Kumi, I thought you only had 1 other sibling?” Ippo asks, slightly confused.

 

“Well, she’s not my biological sister, obviously” Kumi explains. “You see she and Ryo are-”

 

“The asshole back there is my boyfriend” Rie says, cutting Kumi off as she jabs a thumb in Ryo’s direction. 

 

“WHAT? BOYFRIEND?” Ippo yells, his eyes widening in shock and his jaw dropping to the floor.

 

“Yup. For better or for worse” Rie grumbles under her breath.

 

“You must be joking right?” Ippo croaked, looking at Rie. “There’s just absolutely no way. I can’t imagine this actually being true. I mean, how on earth can someone as kind and pretty as you be dating someone like  **him** ?”

 

“ **WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN** ?” Ryo yells angrily from his spot on the ground.

 

“AAAAH NOTHING, I’M SORRY” Ippo screams in terror, cowering behind a very confused Kumi. Rie rolls her eyes and sends Ryo a pleading look, her honey-brown eyes begging him to stop being so difficult. Ryo groans in annoyance, but ultimately complies, albeit rather reluctantly.

 

“Oh man, what is happening right now? What does any of this even mean?” Ippo babbled, still hiding behind Kumi.

 

“It means, if you so much as look at my girl the wrong way I’m gonna fucking kill you” Ryo grumbles to himself, getting up from off the ground and grabbing Koda’s leash, heading over to stand next to Rie. A silence falls over the group for a moment as they all stand around staring at one another. 

 

“Well, now that that’s over with, why don’t we all go have a nice lunch?” Kumi suggests, smiling nervously.

 

“That sounds like a great idea, Kumi. Lead the way” Rie says, picking up on Kumi’s attempt to diffuse the tenseness resonating between Ryo and Ippo. It seems to work, if only a little bit.

 

Kumi and Ippo walk side by side up the street, with Ryo and Rie walking just a little ways behind them. Every so often, Ippo would glance back at the couple walking behind him, as though he expected one of the two adults, specifically Rie, to simply disappear, like some strange fever dream hallucination. Of course, the blonde was still there, walking beside Ryo every time the younger boy turned around. By the 10th time this happened, Ryo got so sick of looking at Ippo’s stupid little face, that he wrapped an arm around Rie, pulled her into his side, and growled menacingly at the boy, which served to scare him enough that he stopped turning around every 5 seconds to gawk at them. Rie gave the taller man a look, but decided not to comment on his sudden possessive behavior.

 

The group arrives at the restaurant Kumi picked out a few minutes later, a dainty little cafe decorated with cute little mascots and lots of bright colors. Ryo could already feel a migraine coming on just from looking at the obnoxiously fluorescent beams that coated the walls. Once everyone was seated seat, a waitress came over, holding a small pad of paper in her hands.

 

“Hello everyone, welcome” she greets in an overly cheerful voice. “Can I get you all started with something to drink?”

 

The group orders their drinks and continue to sit in silence until Rie finally speaks up.

 

“So Ippo, what are your plans for after graduation. Are you going to college? Or are you planning on working?”

 

“O-oh, um, well I’ve decided not to go to college so that I can continue my boxing training. But my family runs a fishing boat rental business, so when I’m not training I’ll be helping my mom out there” Ippo responds shyly.

 

“Wow, a fishing boat rental, that sounds awesome. I don’t think I’ve been out fishing since I was a little kid. My dad used to take my siblings and I out to a lake in the countryside during summer vacations, but as we got older, everybody got so busy that we stopped doing it. I know you must be busy, but maybe you wouldn’t mind taking me out on your boat for a little while at some point?” Rie asks, smiling excitedly at the younger boy sitting across the table. Ippo’s face immediately flushes a deep red.

 

“What? Oh uh, ya of course. I mean, I wouldn’t mind that at all. I could even give you a tour of the coast if you’d like?” The younger boy offers.

 

“Really? Oh that sounds awesome, thanks Ippo” Rie laughs, causing the boy’s blush to only deepen. Ryo glares at Ippo from his spot next to Rie, his blood pressure spiking with each passing second he has to sit here and watch the little dork blush and giggle to himself, putting on that stupid ‘shy boy’ act while Kumi and Rie practically fawned over him. The whole spectacle is so incredibly pathetic Ryo thinks he might hurl.

 

“What do you think, Ryo? Sound like a good idea?” Rie asks him out of the blue.

 

“Ya sure, whatever” the raven haired man responds, completely oblivious as to what Rie had just asked him about, but not really caring enough to find out. A harsh glare followed by a shark jab to the ribs snaps Ryo back to reality.

 

“OW, what the fuck” he curses, rubbing at the spot where Rie had just elbowed him, sending a glare of his own at the blonde. Ippo flinches as he watches the exchange from across the table.

 

“Miss Rie, I don’t think it's a good idea to provoke him like that. You don’t know what he might do in retaliation” Ippo whispers to the blonde, as though the person he was talking about wasn’t sitting right in front of him.

 

“ **What the fuck did you just say?** ” Ryo growls at the younger boy, causing him to recoil, stammering out a bunch of nonsense that only furthered Ryo’s seething anger at the insinuation that he would ever, for the slightest moment, even think about ‘retaliating’ against Rie. Ryo was a lot of things, and not all of them were good, but a domestic abuser most certainly wasn’t one of them.

 

“Enough. Both of you” Rie shouts, grabbing both boys attention.

 

“You” she barks at Ryo. “Stop being difficult, you’re acting like a fucking 4 year old.”

 

“You” she barks at Ippo. “Stop instigating him, you’re only making it worse.”

 

Ippo seems slightly taken aback by Rie’s sudden harsh accusation, beginning to blabber on about something, before simply sighing, muttering a small ‘I’m sorry’ before sinking down in his seat. Ryo says nothing, but allows a small smirk to spread across his lips, pleased by how easily Rie was able to knock the little loser down a peg or two, even if it meant he had to get yelled at too. 

 

Ah whatever, Rie never stayed mad at him for very long anyways.

 

The waitress returns with their drinks and takes everyone’s food order, before disappearing back into the kitchens. Another moment of tense and awkward silence falls over the group, everyone seeming to have run out of things to talk about. At some point, Rie reaches over and takes Ryo’s hand in her own, intertwining their fingers together under the table, which helps to ease the annoyance Ryo feels every time Ippo so much as looks at the blonde, if only slightly.

 

A few more moments pass before Kumi stands up.

 

“I’m going to use the bathroom really quickly. Rie would you come with me please?” The brunette asks. Rie furrows her eyebrows in confusion.

 

“Why do you need me to come with-” Kumi sends a pointed look in Rie’s direction, causing the blonde to trail off for a moment, before a look of understanding flashes across her face.

 

“Oh, ya, of course I’ll go with you Kumi” Rie says, getting up from her seat and beginning to follow the brunette toward the women’s restroom.

 

“Oh, hey wait a minute guys, where are you going?” Ippo croaks, a confused and terrified expression etched onto his face as he watches both girls leaving the table.

 

“We’re just going to the bathroom for a minute” Kumi assures with a small smile. “You boys wait right here, we’ll be right back.”

 

Ippo stuttered and croaked as both Rie and Kumi disappear into the women’s restroom, leaving him alone with Ryo. 

 

The raven haired man simply watched as the little dork sitting across from him twiddled his thumbs nervously, looking in every direction except the one that would force him to look at Ryo. Several moments of tense silence pass before Ippo’s gaze, with nowhere else of interest left to look, finally fell upon the man sitting across from him. Ryo sat casually in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest like they usually were, and a mildly annoyed expression etched across his facial features. Slowly but surely, Ippo’s gaze fell from Ryo’s face, to his crossed arms, to the blue leash still held in his right hand, down the length of the leash, before finally landing on Koda, who was lying calmly on the floor by Ryo’s feet. Ryo smirked as beads of sweat began to collect along Ippo’s forehead as the younger boy eyed the spotted dog warily.

 

“So uh… what’s his name?” Ippo asks, pointing down toward the snoozing dog with a nervous chuckle. 

 

“Koda” Ryo replies, pleased that Ippo flinched when Koda lifted his head from the ground in response to his name.

 

“O-oh, I see… and uh, what kind of dog is he?” The boy continues, his voice beginning to shake.

 

“A pitbull” Ryo answers, resisting the urge to laugh at how terrified Ippo looked. Little dork must be one of those people who believe pitbulls are vicious monsters who’d kill anything that moves. Then again, considering how he once felt about Koda, and dogs in general, Ryo wasn’t really in too much of a position to judge.

 

“R-right, o-of course, um… d-does he bite at all?” Ippo asks, that nervous smile he had on doing nothing to hide the fact that his whole body trembling from fear at this point.

 

“Who, Koda? No, he doesn’t bite” Ryo says, causing Ippo to breathe a sigh of relief. 

 

“That is…” the raven haired man trails off and pats his leg, an amused smirk spreading across his lips as Koda sits up, obediently laying his head on Ryo’s thigh, growling menacingly at Ippo. “Unless I tell him to.”

 

All the color immediately drains from Ippo’s face due to the truly horrifying sight in front of him. Somehow, Ryo managed to keep himself from bursting out laughing at Ippo’s slowly paling complexion. If he didn’t know any better, Ryo might have asked if the boy had seen a ghost. 

 

‘Man, this is too fucking easy’ Ryo chuckles to himself, pleased with how gullible and easily manipulated Ippo was being. ‘I wonder if I can use this as an opportunity to make sure the little geek doesn’t overstep his boundaries? Oh those two are gonna regret leaving the poor defenseless wimp all alone with me.’

 

“S-so uh, have you ever t-told him to b-b-bite s-someone?” Ippo stammers. Ryo allows a small chuckle to rumble in the back of his throat.

 

“No. Nobody’s done anything quite stupid enough to warrant that sort of punishment.”

 

“O-oh, well, th-that’s good to hear.”

 

“But then again…” Ryo trails off, slowly leaning forward until his face is just inches from Ippo’s. “ **There’s a first time for everything.** ”

 

Ryo chuckles darkly to himself, sitting back in his seat and reaching a hand down to pet the top of Koda’s head, just as Rie and Kumi return from the bathroom. Kumi gasps once she sees Ippo.

 

“Ippo, are you alright? You look pale, are you not feeling well?” The brunette asks, rushing toward the pale, trembling husk of a human being, that was once the form of Ippo Makunouchi. 

 

“Y-ya. I-I’m j-just f-f-f-fine” the boy slurred, slumped against his chair, his eyes practically rolled into the back of his head like he was undergoing some sort of exorcism. Kumi quickly hands the boy a glass of water, encouraging him to take a drink.

 

Ryo feels pretty pleased with himself, having successfully put Ippo back in his place where he belongs without alerting Rie or Kumi… well, without alerting Kumi, at least. Rie glares at the raven haired man out of the corner of her eye, clearly aware of what must have transpired while the two girls were in the bathroom.

 

Thankfully, things calm down once their food arrives, and for the most part, Ryo leaves Ippo alone for the duration of their meal, save for the occasional growl the brat receives when his gaze lingers on Rie for just a little longer than Ryo can put up with. Once everyone was finished with their food, Rie payed for lunch like she promised she would, although not without getting into a minor argument with Ryo when the raven haired man tried to sneakily hand the waitress his debit card without the blonde noticing. Needless to say Rie had not been particularly pleased about that.

 

The group finally exits the cafe, standing awkwardly outside for a moment before Ippo finally speaks up.

 

“Um… thank you so much for inviting me to lunch” the boy says politely.

 

“Thank you for coming. I really appreciate you taking the time to come to my graduation, it really means a lot to me” Kumi responds sweetly. A blush spreads across Ippo’s face when Kumi smiles kindly at him. Ryo rolls his eyes and groans in annoyance. Rie steps forward.

 

“It was great to finally meet you Ippo. I was honestly kind of surprised by how kind you were, considering out formidable of a boxer you are” the blonde says. Ippo chuckles lightly.

 

“Ya, I get that a lot” the boy says, scratching at the back of his head. “But it was great to meet you too, Miss Rie. I hope to see you again sometime soon.”

 

“Oh don’t you worry about that. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other from now on. Isn’t that right Ryo?”

 

“Absolutely not” the raven haired man bites, glaring at the smaller boy. Rie rolls her eyes.

 

“Just ignore him, he’ll come around eventually” the blonde whispers. Ippo doesn’t look very convinced about that, but he makes no further comments on it.

 

“Well, I’d better be getting going, I’ve got to help my mom out with the night fishing tonight” Ippo says, bowing politely. 

 

Ippo and Kumi bid each other goodbye, promising to meet up again at some point, much to Ryo’s chargin.

 

“He was nice. A little shy for my tastes, but a nice boy nonetheless” Rie comments once Ippo is completely out of sight.

 

“Yes, I suppose he is a little shy at times, but I think that just makes him cute” Kumi says, a small blush spreading across her cheeks. Rie laughs.

 

“Well, you two are absolutely adorable together, so you 100% have my approval?”

 

“What about me? I never gave my blessings for this” Ryo huffed, furrowing his brows at Rie. The blonde shrugs.

 

“Ya, but your opinion is unnecessarily biased, therefor we don’t care whether you’ve given your blessings or not.” Ryo rolls his eyes and shakes his head in disbelief, but makes the wise decision to keep his mouth shut.

 

This situation was definitely annoying, but Ryo supposes that, of all the people for Kumi to have a crush on, he’s pretty lucky that it's on a massive wimp like Ippo, who practically self-destructs when in the general vicinity of a woman, instead of some random horn-dog who’d jump at even the smallest opportunity to get into Kumi’s pants. At least Ryo hopes that’s the case, because if it isn’t, forensics will be scraping what’s left of him into a glass jar by the time Ryo gets done with him.

 

Hopefully the little idiot won’t do anything that requires such drastic measures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a long chapter today. I thought about trying to break it up at some point, but I couldn’t find anywhere that would allow for a nice transition into the next chapter, so for today enjoy the 3316 words of Ryo fucking around with Ippo and having a great time doing it. Thanks so much for reading, leave a comment, love you lots, bye!!!! <333


	28. Wedding Invitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

Despite how much he disliked the cold, summer was easily Ryo’s least favorite season. Not only did the days seem to drag on a lot longer than the raven haired man would prefer, but the intense and brutal heat wave that Japan was currently experiencing might actually be the death of him, and if not that, then at the very least, the reason why Ryo might end up in the hospital with heat stroke. The fact that his apartment air conditioner had conveniently picked this time of year to completely break down, leaving the Mashiba siblings without air conditioning until their landlord could get it replaced, was definitely not helping the matter.

 

Thankfully for Ryo, Rie’s air conditioner still worked just fine, and the raven haired man had been taking full advantage of that fact, by camping out on the couch at her place, absolutely refusing to spend any longer than 5 minutes in his own apartment, when the ambient temperature in the building was equivalent to the blistering infernos of hell. Of course, the offer to hang out at Rie’s place after she got off work had been extended to Kumi as well, seeing as how Ryo wasn’t the only one affected by the lack of air conditioning, but for some strange reason, Kumi had declined the offer, saying she already had somewhere to stay. She didn’t mention any specifics or details about the person she was staying with, simply referring to them as her ‘friend’, and while a part of Ryo wanted to believe that she was just sleeping over at one of her high school friends’ houses, the raven haired man couldn’t help but feel suspicious about whether or not Kumi was making herself comfortable at the Makunouchi residence.

 

Despite his suspicions, Ryo was too exhausted from work and training and the early June heat to really bother finding the answer to his suspicions. Not to mention the fact that Rie would kill him if she found out that he’d been tailing Kumi to try and find out where she was going at night. Ryo wasn’t scared of the blonde by any stretch of the imagination, but just because he isn’t scared of her, doesn’t mean he’s unaware of what she’s capable of, or that he’s particularly interested in incurring her wrath. So for the time being, Ryo merely ignores the thoughts and suspicious regarding his little sister in favor of trying to get some much needed sleep.

 

[No Mum, I already told you we can’t make it.] The sound of Rie’s hushed voice coming from the other room pulls Ryo from the slight doze he’d fallen into while watching TV on the couch. Based on the fact that the blonde was currently speaking English, Ryo would guess that she must be talking with her mother. 

 

Despite her efforts to be quiet, Ryo can clearly hear everything she’s saying, and while it’s been a few years since Ryo last took English classes, the raven haired man apparently remembered enough of it to make understanding what Rie was saying relatively easy. 

 

[Well, you clearly don’t understand what I’m saying if you’re still going on about us flying out there. I’ve already told you once, and I’ll tell you as many times as it takes. We are  **not** coming out] the blonde hisses, her voice laced with frustration and the faintest hint of exhaustion. Ryo furrows his brows.

 

What is Rie talking about? Does she need to go back to England again? While 8 months may be a long time to go without seeing family, with the sheer amount of distance between Japan and Europe, making a trip like that any more than once a year can be pretty difficult. 

 

[Because I don’t want anything to do with her, that’s why. Don’t you remember what happened at Lily’s graduation party? Because I sure as fuck do.] 

 

‘Uh oh, sounds like family drama’ Ryo thinks to himself as he listens in on Rie’s conversation, his curiosity over what she was talking about outweighing the slight twinge of guilt he feels over snooping on a personal phone call. 

 

[No, this has absolutely nothing to do with him. He’s busy. He’s got work and training and matches coming up. He doesn’t have the time.] Rie huffs, clearly growing more and more frustrated with her mother with each passing second.

 

[ **Because Ryo doesn’t want to go, that’s fucking why.** ]

 

‘Me?’ Ryo thinks, his eyes shooting open in surprise. The raven haired man peers over the side of the couch, catching a glimpse of Rie pacing back and forth in her art room through the half-opened door, an annoyed look on her face.

 

[No. You know what, I’m doing having this conversation with you. I don’t give a damn what that selfish, conceited, and absolutely moronic little twat or her shady drug-dealer fiancé think about me. I’m not going to their stupid fucking wedding, and neither you, nor dad, nor the fucking Queen, can fucking make me. Goodbye.] And with that, Rie slams the phone back on the receiver, unplugging the device from the wall socket to silence any and all further calls. The blonde groans, exiting her office and trudging over to the kitchen, before opening the fridge and rifling through its contents. Ryo gets up from the couch, dislodging his leg from underneath a sleeping Koda, the spotted dog having made himself comfortable in the narrow spot between Ryo’s legs.

 

He approaches Rie from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and laying his chin on the top of her head. The blonde flinches, before finally realizing who it is.

 

“Oh Ryo, you startled me” Rie sighs, in relief. “I’m sorry love, I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

 

Ryo shrugs his shoulders. “I was already awake. Was that your mom on the phone?”

 

“What gave it away? The annoyed yelling or the fact that I had to unplug the phone so she couldn’t call back 7 million times?”

 

“A little bit of both. What did she want?”

 

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just the same shit, but on a different day” Rie says casually. Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow.

 

“Well, I heard my name at one point followed by something about a wedding, so either I’m a hell of a lot worse at English than I thought I was, or…” Ryo presses his finger to Rie’s forehead gently, forcing the blonde to crane her head back to that their eyes meet. “You’re not telling me something.”

 

Rie heaves a sigh, allowing her head to fall forwards as she reaches into the fridge, pulling out a bottle of vodka and a bottle of lemonade, before reaching into a nearby drawer, pulling out an opened envelope. She hands it to Ryo, and the raven haired man opens it, pulling out a folded letter. It reads:

 

——————————-

 

_ To whom this may concern, _

 

_ It is with great pleasure that we are able to announce the upcoming celebration of the coming together of  _ **_Jonathan Briggs_ ** _ and  _ **_Emilia Rochester_ ** _ in the sacred congregation of Holy Matrimony.  _

 

_ The event will take place at the Manchester Royal Hotel, on Saturday July 4th, 1992. Room and board, as well as complimentary access to a wide variety of hotel amenities, including 24 hour room service, continental breakfast, the gym and pool area, and much more, will be provided, free of charge, to each guest, courtesy of the couple-to-be.  _

 

_ This letter extends the privilege of invitation to this wonderful event to  _ **_Rie Araya_ ** _ and  _ **_Ryo Mashiba_ ** _. Please respond with confirmation as to whether or not you will be attending the event as soon as physically possible. Further details regarding the event will be provided upon acceptance of invitation. _

 

_ Regards, _

**_Julia Rochester_ **

 

——————————-

 

Ryo furrows his brows down at the letter in his hands, unsure if he really understood what it was saying, or if he even wanted to understand. It wasn’t even that the English it was written in was confusing him, but rather the intent behind it.

 

“Why the hell am I being invited to a wedding by somebody I don’t know?” Ryo asks, though more to himself than anyone else.

 

“I’m not really sure. But whatever the reason behind it, I don’t like it” Rie says darkly, popping open the bottle of vodka and pouring roughly 5 shots into a glass, before topping it off with lemonade. 

 

“Wow this is really bothering you, isn’t it?” Ryo says with mild concern, as the blonde proceeds to down half her drink in one sitting. Rie grimaces as she places her drink on the kitchen counter.

 

“Ya, it is actually, and its entirely because of  **them** ” Rie states, pointing to the names Emilia and Julia on the letter. 

 

“Ok? What about them?” 

 

“What about them?” Rie squawks. “What isn’t there to say about them. Julia is my aunt, well ex-aunt I suppose, my dad’s older brother Sam divorced her years ago, but she’s an abusive, sadistic, and manipulative piece of shit, and Emilia is her spoiled, hot-headed, cheating, backstabbing, dumb as a pile of fucking bricks daughter, from her marriage prior to Sam.”

 

“Ok, so you clearly don’t like them” Ryo comments aloud. 

 

“Oh no, no, no, you don’t understand. I don’t dislike these two, Ryo, I  **fucking hate them.** ” The blonde hisses, picking up her glass and downing the rest of her drink. Ryo takes the bottle of vodka and puts it on top of the fridge, far away from Rie’s reach.

 

“Thank you” the blonde says, putting her empty glass in the sink and rubbing her eyes tiredly.

 

Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow.

 

“Anyways, that's not really important. But what is important is the fact that I, nor anyone in my family, have spoken to Julia or Emilia since Sam and her divorced over a decade ago, and now all of a sudden, a few weeks back, people back home start getting these wedding invitations from Julia, talking about Emilia marrying some bank CEO’s son or whatever, I didn’t really care to look into it, and for some fucking reason, everybody’s talking about going to this wedding, despite the fact that the last time Julia and Emilia were present at a family gathering, Emilia got fucking drunk out of her goddamn mind and had sex with somebody’s boyfriend in the upstairs bathroom, and I got sent to the hospital because Julia was high on drugs and she broke a fucking bottle of wine over my head. I had to get 10 stitches in the back of my head because of that, and yet everybody is talking about going to this stupid wedding and having a good time, acting like I’m the crazy person for not wanting to go anywhere near the two people who caused me so much misery in my childhood, and I just…” Rie trails off, biting the bottom of her lip, tears beginning to prickle at the bottom of her eyes. 

 

Ryo stood there awkwardly for a moment, unsure of what to do. The raven haired man had known Rie for over a year by this point, and yet in all that time, he’d never seen her quite this distressed. Sure there was that time last year when her aunt had passed away, but even then Rie seemed to bounce back from that fairly quickly, despite how upset she was about it at the time. This time however, Ryo could tell that whatever Rie felt about this Julia and Emilia, went far deeper than he could possibly understand.

 

Abandoning the letter on the counter, Ryo reaches forward and pulls Rie into his arms, allowing the blonde to wrap her arms around his middle and bury her face into his chest. He gently runs his hand up and down her back. 

 

A few moments of silence pass before Rie finally speaks.

 

“What do I do, Ryo?” She asks, her voice slightly muffled by the fabric of the taller man’s shirt.

 

“You think I have any idea?” Ryo remarks. The blonde shrugs her shoulders, saying nothing.

 

“Rie, if you don’t want to do to the wedding, then don’t go. Your mom can guilt trip you all she wants, but she can’t force you to go if you don’t want to.”

 

Rie sighs heavily. “Ya, you’re right,”

 

“What is it?” Ryo asks, noticing that there’s something she still isn’t telling him.

 

“Rie.” The blonde in question shakes her head.

 

“It’s nothing. You’ll think its stupid.”

 

“I’ve heard a lot of really stupid things in my life, and I can guarantee that anything you have to say won’t come even remotely close to any of that” Ryo remarks, pulling a small chuckle out of Rie. 

 

“It’s not that I don’t want to go back. I mean, I’d love to be able to bring you home and introduce you to all my family and friends, and show you around all the places I loved going to when I was growing up. Hell, I wouldn’t even mind if it was just going back for a regular wedding, but the fact this it's Emilia’s wedding, and that fucking bitch Julia has gone out of her way to mail a wedding invitation all the way to Japan, just proves that they’re using this whole operation as a way to ‘prove’ how much better they are than everyone else” Rie explains. Ryo nods his head in understanding.

 

“So they’re doing this for bragging rights.”

 

“Exactly” Rie mutters. “And I don’t want any part in it, but my parents already bought us both plane tickets, so that’s why my mum won’t leave me alone.”

 

“Your parents bought us plane tickets? What the hell did they do that for?” Ryo asks, very confused. Rie groans in annoyance.

 

“Because when they heard that you had been invited to the wedding along with me, Mum and Dad got so excited about being able to meet you finally that they went ahead and bought both of us plane tickets so that they could guilt me into bringing you home to England for 2 weeks” Rie replies, although her answer only serves to confuse Ryo even more.

 

“Ok? So what do you wanna do?” The raven haired man asks.

 

“I don’t know. I’m tempted to take the tickets my mum bought so that I can go home again but if I do there’s no way I’ll be able to avoid going to the wedding. On top of that, it's such short notice and I know how busy you are with everything. It would be unfair of me to ask you to take all that time away from work and training just to satisfy my parents and stroke my stupid aunt’s ego.”

 

“What do you mean by that?” 

 

“My aunt didn’t invite you to the wedding out of the kindness of her heart, she invited you to the wedding because she wants to judge the ever living shit out of you, and make it very clear to everyone, but especially me, that her daughter is vastly superior because her future husband is the son of a wealthy CEO, and I just know that she’s going to tear you apart the second she sees you, because she’s a massive cunt who enjoys beating people up over the smallest of things for her own amusement.”

 

“Ok. So let her.” Rie removes her face from Ryo’s chest, sending a confused look up to the taller man.

 

“What?” The blonde asks, as though she hadn’t heard him correctly. Ryo shrugs his shoulders.

 

“Just fucking let her. You think I give a shit about what some dusty old hag has to say about me. There’s nothing in the entire goddamn world that she can say that I haven’t already heard before” he states. Rie frowns.

 

“Ryo, that’s not the point I’m trying to make. It’s not a matter of whether she can come up with a new and inventive way to insult you, it’s a matter of her wanting to socially humiliate people” the blonde explains.

 

“And you think I’d be an easy target for her” Ryo states. It’s not a question, and the look of guilt that flashes across the blonde’s face tells Ryo that she knows it too.

 

“Ryo, I love you, you are the greatest thing to have ever happened to me, and I would never judge you based on your past, nor would I ever ask you to be anyone other than exactly who you are” Rie says. “But Julia, is different. She is mean and wicked and cruel and she’ll do anything and everything to get what she wants, and she’s raised Emilia to be exactly the same way. Those two will lie, cheat, turn people against each other, twist and warp things until they work to their advantage, and the worst part about it, is that everyone falls for it, every time.”

 

Ryo remains silent as Rie continues.

 

“I hate that I believe this, but ya, I do think you’d an easy target for her. And even though you might not be bothered by what she has to say, I know how good she is at manipulating other people, and making them see things from her ‘perspective’. I’m not ashamed of bringing you home to my family or anything like that, I’m just afraid that Julia might somehow manage to turn everyone against you, against us. I just don’t want her to drag you through the mud like she used to do to me” Rie says, resting her head back against Ryo’s chest. The raven haired man says nothing in response to Rie’s long-winded explanation, simply continuing to stroke the blonde’s back gently.

 

Ryo didn’t know who this Julia was, or what they hell her fucking problem was, but based solely off what Rie had just told him, as well as the blonde’s almost irrational fear of her and what this woman can do, Ryo decided, then and there, that he  **hated** her. In fact, Ryo decided that he hated this woman so much, that there was only one thing he could think of that could possibly put this bitch back in her place.

 

“I think I’ve got an idea” Ryo says, catching Rie’s attention.

 

“What kind of idea?” The blonde asks, curious.

 

“Well, this is either the greatest idea I’ve ever come up with, or it's gonna get us both arrested, but here’s what I was thinking” Ryo begins. “We take the tickets your parents bought us, we fly to England, you introduce me to all your family and friends and we do a bunch of shit in your hometown, then we go to the stupid wedding, on the day of the service, I get into a fist fight with the groom and knock him out, because why not, meanwhile you dump a bottle of red wine all over your stupid cousin’s dress, punch Julia in the goddamn face, then, after all that, we ditch the whole thing and go on a tour of Europe. How does that sound?” A long moment of silence passes following Ryo’s description of his ‘plan’. Rie blinks at him for a moment, her face contorted in confusion, before she bursts out laughing. Ryo smiles as the blonde buries her face back into his shirt, her high-pitched cries of laughter vibrating against his chest. If all else fails, at least he was able to make Rie laugh.

 

“That has to be the worst fucking idea I have ever heard in my entire life, I fucking love it” Rie says, unable to control her laughter. Rie manages to calm herself down a moment later, though her smile remains.

 

“You know what, you’re right. Fuck Julia, fuck Emilia, and fuck whatever the hell they’re trying to get out of all this. We’ll go, we’ll have a good time, I can show you around London, you can meet my family and friends, we’ll go to the stupid wedding, and if Julia tries anything funny, we’ll ruin the whole damn thing and run away into the sunset… that is, if either of us can get the time off from work, and what about your training?”

 

“Ah don’t worry about that. I’ve got some time off saved up at work and they can’t schedule me any matches because of how close the A-class tournament is. So long as I do a little bit of road work everyday, I should be fine in terms of physical conditioning” Ryo assures.

 

“Alrighty then. Are you sure you want to do this? I won’t make you come with me if you don’t really want to” Rie asks, looking up at the taller man, uncertainty in her eyes.

 

“Ya, I’m sure. Besides, it's not everyday I get the chance to go overseas for shit like this, might as well take advantage of the opportunity when it comes up. I also look forward to pissing your aunt off at every chance I get.” Rie laughs at that, nodding her head.

 

“I love you” Rie says, softly. Ryo smiles.

 

“Ya, I know you do” he says, pulling the blonde back into his arms and wrapping his arms firmly around her, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

 

“I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys. The time has come, for me to finally introduce Ryo (as well as you guys) to Rie’s family. I wasn’t entirely sure how I wanted to set up the need for both Ryo and Rie to go to England, so I decided upon a wedding for a really shitty family member, that Ryo and Rie may or may not end up ditching at some point, idk I haven’t thought ahead that far yet. All I know is that Ryo and Rie are finally going to England together, and I finally get to reveal more about Rie’s life before she moved to Japan, and I am very excited about that. As for how I plan on distinguishing between Japanese speech vs English speech, I will have the Japanese speech encased within the quotation marks (“. “) like I have been thus far, and any English speech will be encased with in brackets ([. ]) Just to eliminate any confussion about what language people are speaking at any given time. I think this section of story is gonna be a little longer than some of the others, simply because I’m not entirely sure when it ends and how long Ryo and Rie spend doing what, but hopefully its not so long that people get bored of it. The reason why I decided to include this arc in now is because I was worried that things were starting to get a bit repetitive,so I thought I’d throw a little something in to shake things up. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you are as excited about the upcoming chapters as I am. Thanks so much for reading, leave a comment down below letting me know what you think of this chapter, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 29. Love you lots, bye!!! <3


	29. Take Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

The 27th of June came a lot faster than Ryo had anticipated it would, which kind of sucks considering that he leaves on a 2 week ‘vacation’ overseas in approximately 12 hours from now, and he has done absolutely fuck all in terms of preparing for said trip. In his defense, the raven haired man had been incredibly busy the past few weeks, between work and boxing training and making sure that Kumi would be alright while he was gone, but that didn’t negate the fact that Rie was going to murder him if he wasn’t packed and ready to go by 6 pm tonight. 

 

Despite how annoying it was, Ryo decided that he’d be better off in the long run if he woke up early and got started. Was 5:30 am a bit too early? Maybe. But Ryo supposed that it would be better to have extra time left over once he finished packing, than not have enough time and accidentally forget something he needs, like his passport, or his underwear. 

 

Several hours pass, and Ryo can say with approximately 87% certainty that he is fully packed and ready for his trip. He’s still not entirely certain how or why he got himself mixed up in this whole fiasco. Maybe it was the fact that Rie’s parents had already bought them plane tickets, so not using them would just be a waste, or his curiosity about what Rie’s family was like, and what they would think of him as Rie’s boyfriend, or perhaps it was the morbid hope that Ryo would, at some point during this whole expedition, have the opportunity to royally piss Julia off, even if only a little bit.

 

“Ryo, are you ready to go?” Kumi asks, peering into his room, her brows furrowing in distaste at how much of a mess it was. Eh, he’d clean it when he got back.

 

“Ya, I’m ready, why?”

 

“Mr. Tanaka just pulled up outside. He wants to know if you need any help with your bags.”

 

“Nah, I’ve got it” Ryo says, hefting the heavy suitcase onto his shoulder before heading out the front door. While Coach Toho had been less than pleased to hear that one of his star boxers would be going away for two weeks, despite the Class-A tournament being only a little over 2 months away, Mr. Tanaka had been practically over the moon when he learned that Ryo was going away to England to meet Rie’s family. Not only had Ryo’s boss gladly given him the 2 weeks off he asked for, but the older man had even offered to drive them to the airport, which surprised Ryo a great deal, but decided to accept, if only because it meant they wouldn’t have to worry about paying for airport parking, or dealing with calling a cab.

 

As Ryo walks down the stairs of his apartment, Mr. Tanaka is standing next to the open trunk of his car, dressed in casual clothes, which is rather strange sight, considering that Ryo has never seen the man in anything other than professional attire. The older man practically lights up once he sees Ryo.

 

“Evening Mashiba” the older man greets cheerfully. “Ready for your big trip?”

 

“As ready as I’ll ever be” Ryo says with a shrug of his shoulders, heaving his suitcase into the trunk of Mr. Tanaka’s car. 

 

“Oh come on now, this is exciting. It’s not everyday you get the opportunity to go to a wedding overseas. I’d kill to be in your shoes right now.”

 

“You wanna trade places, then?” Mr. Tanaka laughs good naturedly at Ryo’s sarcastic comment, shutting the trunk as Ryo heads back his apartment to grab his carry on bag, as well as double check that he really does have everything he needs with him. After triple checking his bedroom, as well as the rest of the apartment, Ryo is now 96% certain that he has everything he needs, the remaining 4% he left out just in case his passport decided to sprout legs and mysteriously disappear from his bag at some point, because why the hell not?

 

“Have a good trip” Kumi says, watching as Ryo puts his shoes on and throws his bag over his shoulder. Ryo regards his little sister with a serious expression.

 

“Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone” the raven haired man says sternly, causing Kumi to laugh, stepping forward to hug her brother goodbye.

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be just fine” Kumi assures, and although he doesn’t say anything, Ryo silently prays to whatever god will listen to him, that his sister makes good on that promise. 

 

Ryo exits the apartment, making sure that Kumi locks the front door behind him, before heading down and climbing into the passenger seat of Mr. Tanaka’s car.

 

“Alright, let's get going. Uh, remind me which direction I’m going again?” Mr. Tanaka chuckles slightly, having completely forgotten the directions to Rie’s place that Ryo gave him earlier. Ryo rolls his eyes but instructs his boss on the direction he needs to go in. The drive to Rie’s apartment building is relatively silent, save for the small amounts of chatter that Mr. Tanaka provides. 

 

“Hey, uh…” Ryo begins, catching his boss’ attention. “Thanks for driving me and Rie to the airport and stuff. I… I really appreciate you doing this for me.”

 

Mr. Tanaka stares at the younger man sitting awkwardly next to him while they’re stopped at a red light, before a smile spreads across his lips. The older man pats his hand against Ryo’s shoulder, in what the raven haired man assumes much be an affectionate manner.

 

“You’re very welcome, Mashiba. I’m glad you trusted me enough to ask.” The rest of the car ride passes in relative silence, until they finally pull in to the parking garage of Rie’s apartment, and park in the unoccupied spot next to Rie’s car, hoping that the person who’s spot this is doesn’t come back before they can leave. The two men get out of the car and walk through the halls of Rie’s apartment toward her door once they arrive, and Ryo pounds on her front door three time. Silence falls for a moment before the click of the lock, followed by the door swinging open, revealing a casually dressed Rie, she smiles when she sees Ryo and Mr. Tanaka.

 

“Hey guys, I was just beginning to wonder where you were” the blonde says, opening the door further and allowing the two men to step inside.

 

“Would you like a bottle of water Mr. Tanaka?” Rie asks, making her way back into the living room, where her suitcase was currently placed, packed, closed and ready to go.

 

“Oh no thank you, I appreciate it though” the older man replies with a wave of his hand. A moment later, Koda comes trotting out of Rie’s bedroom, a large blue harness with the letters ‘ **I’M FRIENDLY! PLEASE PET ME!** ’ printed on it in bold black lettering, was hanging off of him, the straps that had yet to be secured dragged across the floor.

 

“So, you guys are really taking your dog with you, huh?” Mr. Tanaka asks, bending down to pet the spotted pitbull, who gladly accepts the attention.

 

“Yup. I couldn’t take him with me the last time because I only had a couple days notice before I had to leave, but this time I had a few weeks, so I was able to book an appointment at the vet clinic to get a health certification and renew his certification for international travel. It can be a bit pricey, but at least this way airport security can’t turn me away for no good reason.”

 

“Well that’s good. At least you have everything you need so they can’t turn you away at the gate.”

 

“Ya, that’s definitely not fun. Thankfully it’s never happened before, so my fingers are crossed that it won’t happen this time” Rie says, smiling down at Koda.

 

“Well, I already told Mr. Sato that I was going away for a few weeks, so other than making sure all the lights are out and locking up, I’m ready to go” The blonde says, moving her large suitcase over by the door, where Mr. Tanaka takes it and heads out into the hallway. Rie then begins turning off all the lights in her apartment, while Ryo finished strapping Koda into his harness, attaching the least and giving it a good tug to make sure that it was on and secured. The last thing anyone needed today was to have to chase Koda through the airport after he took off because his harness came loose.

 

“Should we bring some treats or toys for Koda with us? Just in case we need to distract him or something?” Ryo asks, as he stands by the door.

 

“I slipped a little baggie of treats into the zipper pouch on his harness and I have his tennis ball and his stuffed ducky in my carry on. That should be enough to get us through the flight without issue” Rie replies. 

 

‘Let’s hope so’ Ryo says to himself, casting a glance down at Koda, who’s sitting obediently at his feet.

 

Once Rie is finished checking everything in her apartment, the blonde puts her shoes on, grabs her carry on, and locks her front door behind her, following the two men out to Mr. Tanaka’s car.

 

“Thanks again for driving us to the airport Mr. Tanaka. You really saved us a lot of hassle, but I’m so sorry we had to bother you on your day off” Rie thanks as Ryo heft’s Rie’s suitcase in next to his, slamming the trunk shut.

 

“Oh no, it’s no bother at all. You’re always better off having someone else drive you to the airport, instead of dealing with parking and leaving your car there for someone to break into or paying an arm and a leg for a cab. I assure you it’s no trouble at all” Mr. Tanaka assures.

 

“Well, thank you very much, I appreciate you doing this for us” the blonde says with a smile. With their luggage secured in the trunk, the three adults, and Koda, climb back into the car, and set out for the airport.

 

Tokyo International Airport is just as busy and chaotic as it usually is, which annoys Ryo a great deal. It takes almost half an hour of weaving through traffic before Mr. Tanaka is finally able to pull his car over to the side and let Ryo, Rie, and Koda out in front of their designated airline check-in station. The older man gets out of the car to help unload their bags, before slamming the trunk shut and smiling at them.

 

“Well, you two have a good trip. I want to hear all the juicy details about it when you get back” The older man shouts, having to speak up over the ambient noise of the bustling airport.

 

“Don’t worry, we will. We’ll make sure to grab you a t-shirt or something as well” Rie shouts back.

 

“I’d appreciate that. So long you two, fly safe” The older man says, waving goodbye as Ryo, Rie, and Koda head through the sliding doors of the airport.

 

An hour passes by before Ryo and Rie finally sit down outside their designated gate, their time having been filled with a metric fuckton of waiting in various different lines, one for bag check-in, one for getting their tickets, one for security, who thankfully didn't give them too much trouble over Koda, and finally one for the sandwich shop where they bought food and drinks that would, hopefully, get them through the flight. Half an hour later, a woman calls over the intercom, indicating that the plane was going to begin boarding momentarily. The couple stand up and head toward the gate, waiting in yet another line, before finally handing their tickets over to the young woman and boarding the plane.

 

Ryo allows himself to breathe a sigh of relief once they are finally boarded and seated on the plane. Koda has to sit on his lap while the rest of the passengers board, but thankfully the window seat had already been taken when they sat down, and Rie offered to take the middle seat so Ryo could have more leg room. Once all the passengers are boarded, Ryo let's Koda down onto the floor, where the spotted dog immediately curls up, ready for a nap.

 

At 8 pm sharp, the lights in the cabin finally dim, and the plane begins to slowly depart from the gate, readying for takeoff. Rie reaches over and takes Ryo hand.

 

“Ready?” The blonde asks, smiling at him. Ryo chuckles slightly.

 

“I sure as hell hope so, cuz it’s a little late to turn back now” the raven haired man says, as the plane engines rumble to life, and the plane lurches forward and takes off into the dark, night sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “We’re going on a trip, in our favorite rocket ship, zooming through the sky, LITTLE EINSTEINS.”  
> ...  
> I’m very sorry about that.  
> Thanks so much for reading, comment down below, love you lots, bye!!!


	30. Do’s and Don’ts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

“Ry…”

 

“...yo…”

 

“RYO.” The raven haired man jerks awake at the sound of his voice, immediately sitting up from the slightly uncomfortable position he’d somehow fallen asleep in. He blinks tiredly around until his eyes finally focus on Rie, who looks about as tired as he feels.

 

“We there yet?” Ryo slurs, clearing his throat to get rid of the dry, scratchy feeling in the back of his throat. 

 

“Ya, flight attendant came around a few minutes ago. We’ll be landing in about 20 minutes” the blonde says, to which Ryo merely hums in response, allowing his head to fall back against the built-in pillow of his seat, and his eyes to close once again.

 

Approximately 18 hours had passed since Ryo and Rie had departed from Japan, and while about 3 of those hours had been spent in layover at an airport in Beijing, waiting for their next flight, most of that time had been spent crammed in a very small seat of a plane, trying, but mostly failing, to get some sleep. It wasn’t until about halfway through the remainder of their second flight that Ryo, unable to fight off his exhaustion any longer, finally passed out, with Rie curled up next to him, using his arm as a pillow, and Koda sprawled out on the floor at his feet.

 

When the plane finally lands and docks at the gate, all the passengers immediately get up, grabbing their belongings and forming a line in the aisles, ready to get off the plane and go about the rest of their day. Ryo has to squint his eyes as he exits the plane, his eyes not yet adjusted to the bright lights of the early morning.

 

Rie grabs onto his hand and leads Ryo through the large crowds of people, pushing and shoving her way through as they head straight for baggage claim. It takes a while, but eventually both Ryo and Rie manage to retrieve their bags from the conveyor belt, before heading outside and hopping into a cab, setting off in the direction Rie gives the driver. 

 

Ryo remains silent throughout most of the drive, a small feeling of anxiousness beginning to settle in the pit of his stomach at the realization that he was a mere minutes away from meeting Rie’s family, and more importantly, from being either welcomed into their home, and by extension their family, with open arms, or turned away at the door and forbidden from seeing Rie ever again. The raven haired man didn’t want to admit it, but a part of him was genuinely nervous what Rie’s parents might think about him when they first saw him. Hopefully British people didn’t judge appearances as harshly as the Japanese did, maybe then Ryo might actually have a chance at getting her parents to like him, or at the very least not forbid him from dating their daughter.

 

The cab eventually comes to a stop in front of a row similar looking 3-story houses. Rie pays the cab driver once all their bags have been unloaded from the trunk and placed onto the sidewalk, digging a set of keys out of her bag as he pulls away from the curb and drives away. 

 

“It’s a little early still, so I don’t know if anyone will be awake, but they know we’re coming, so if nothing else we can make something to eat and watch some TV until people start waking up” Rie says as they take their bags and approach one of the houses, using her key to unlock the front door.

 

Koda immediately darts inside, disappearing up the stairs before Ryo can even get his leash off. The couple drag their bags inside and toe their shoes off quickly, before leaving the bags behind in the front foyer, to deal with later.

 

“Ok, so before everyone wakes up, I just want to take a second to explain a few things about England and British culture that might differ from what is customary back in Japan” Rie begins, speaking in a quiet voice as she walks down a long hallway.

 

“Are they really all that different?” Ryo asks, following closely behind her as they enter a large room that houses the kitchen as well as the living room and dining room.

 

“You’d be surprised how different Japan and Great Britain are, and that’s why I want to just really quickly explain a few do’s and don’ts so you don’t accidentally offend someone. Unlike back in Japan, British people will fight you over the smallest and stupidest things.”

 

“Ok” Ryo responds, unsure what to do with that piece of information, but not saying anything further. 

 

“Great. Ok so first things first, the do’s and don’ts. Rule #1: Don’t glare at people in public. I know I already said this, but British people are generally a bit more aggressive than the Japanese, and while glaring at people in Japan might get you an odd look or some concerned whispers, in England, glaring at the wrong person can get you a broken nose, if you’re not careful.”

 

“Ok.”

 

“Rule #2: Be polite and friendly to people. You’re not going to get your head bit off if you accidentally run into someone while walking down the street or stop them to ask what train you should get on, so long as you’re polite about it. Even people in a rush will stop to lend you a hand if you ask nicely enough, or at the very least will point you in the direction of someone who can help you.”

 

“Right.”

 

“Rule #3: Don’t get offended when people call you ‘duck’ or ‘mate’, as they are friendly terms of affection, here. British people are a bit reserved, but not nearly as reserved as the Japanese, so don’t take it the wrong way or be weirded out when a guy you’ve known for all of 5 minutes is calling you ‘mate’ and inviting you out for drinks like you’ve known each other all your lives. He’s just trying to be friendly.

 

“That’s a little strange, but whatever.”

 

“Rule #4: Don’t ask, and I repeat, Do. Not. Ask what people think of the royal family. Foreign people do this all the time, and it angers even the nicest British people. It might not seem like much to foreigners, especially ones who come from countries that don’t have a royal family, but to us, it's a terribly awkward and slightly invasive question, that would be similar to asking what people think about their distant cousins.”

 

“Don’t know why I‘d ever want to ask that, but sure.”

 

“And last but not least, Rule #5: If someone offers to buy you a drink at a pub, you take it. Buying people drinks is a token gesture of friendship her in England, and while you don’t actually have to finish the drink if you don’t want to, its both customary and polite to accept the offer, and have a sip or two, at the very least.”

 

“And if I refuse the offer?”

 

“Unless you have some kind of valid reason, like a medical condition or something, the person might assume that you don’t like them, and it might result in an argument of some kind.”

 

“Great” Ryo says, his voice laced with sarcasm. “So is that it, or do you have a manual for me to read through, too?”

 

Rie laughs. “No, that should be it. There are a few other things I could mention, but I doubt you’ll ever actually encounter them since we’re only here for 2 weeks, so I won’t bore you with unnecessary details.”

 

“Glad to hear it” Ryo says. 

 

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs catches Ryo’s attention, and he turns around in time to see a young girl with long black hair, still dressed in her pajamas, trudging down the stairs, tiredly. The girl’s eyes go wide once she finally sees Ryo, but before the raven haired man can say anything to Rie, she screams.

 

[ **THEY’RE HERE!** ]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, I’m currently in the middle of finals so I have a lot going on. Might not be able to post every day like I have been the past few weeks, but I’ll try to post a chapter every other day or something like that. Thanks so much for reading, make sure to comment down below letting me know what you think of the story so far, love you all lots, and I’ll see you all soon for chapter 31. Bye!!!


	31. Meet the Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy

The last thing Ryo expected, upon entering Rie’s house, was the deafening sound of screeching as the young girl from before sprints past Ryo and practically throws herself at Rie. The blonde, having apparently expected that to happen, opens her arms and catches the girl in midair, allowing her to latch on with both her arms and her legs, 

 

[You’re back, you’re back, you’re finally back] the girl chants happily, laughing as Rie spins her around the kitchen. A few moments later, a young man, only a little shorter than Ryo rushes into the kitchen, and Rie puts the other girl down so that she can hug the young man tightly. Moments after that, an older woman with shoulder length black hair enters the kitchen, wrapping a robe around herself, followed closely behind by a very large man with short blonde hair, both of whom move to hug and kiss Rie in greeting. Ryo stands awkwardly in the corner and watches, unsure of what to do as Rie greets her family happily, somehow holding 4 different conversations at once, as they crowd around her, until finally.

 

[Is this him?] the young man asks, turning to face Ryo, a serious expression on his face. Slowly but surely, all eyes in the room turn toward Ryo, looking over him with careful observation. If there were ever a time in his life where Ryo wanted to turn around and run as far and as fast as his legs would allow, this would be it. Thankfully Rie comes to his rescue, pushing past her family members to stand next to him, taking his hand in her own and intertwining their finger, giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. 

 

[Ok guys, this is my boyfriend Ryo Mashiba] Rie says, introducing the raven haired man to the rest of her family.

 

[Uh, hi] Ryo says, waving awkwardly, hoping his accent isn’t so thick that they can’t understand him. Rie continues speaking, but this time to Ryo in Japanese, pointing at the various members of her family as she introduced them. 

 

“The girl in the back is my little sister, Kaori.”

 

[Hello] the girl greets. 

 

“The boy right there is my younger brother, Genji.”

 

[Sup] the young man greets with a nod of his head. 

 

“And the two right in front are my mum Emma, and my dad Jason.”

 

The large man says nothing, but smiles warmly at Ryo while his wife takes a few steps forward, taking Ryo’s unoccupied hand and wrapping both of hers around it. 

 

[We’re all so glad that you were willing to come all this way to meet us Ryo. It’s so wonderful to finally meet you after all the things Rie has told us about you] the older woman says, smiling at him in a way that greatly resembles her daughter. 

 

[Uh, thank you. It’s nice to meet you too] Ryo responds, swallowing thickly, trying his best not to seem as nervous as he is.

 

[WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS ALL THAT RACKET!] a loud voice yells from up the stairs, causing Ryo to jump in surprise. Kaori and Genji laugh and Rie pinches the bridge of her nose, as Ryo turns around just in time to see an elderly man sitting in a chair that is carrying him down the stairs. 

 

“And of course, how could I forget Grandpa John” the blonde says flatly.

 

Ryo has officially lost any and all idea as to what is going on around him, as the crotchety old man reaches the bottom of the staircase, using his cane to stand himself up. Rie let's go of Ryo’s hand and walks over to help the elderly man. 

 

[Hello Grampa, you’re looking well.] 

 

[Ah Rie, there you are, I was beginning to wonder when you’d get here] the elderly man says, allowing his granddaughter to lead him into the kitchen. He stops when he notices Ryo, and his eyes narrow as he looks the young man up and down.

 

[Who the fuck is this?] he asks, turning to Rie, who rolls her eyes in disbelief.

 

[That’s Ryo, Dad] Jason says. [The young man that Rie is seeing.]

 

[She’s what now?]

 

[He’s my boyfriend Grampa] Rie clarifies.

 

[Which one?]

 

[Well, I only have one, so that one.] The elderly man nods, giving Ryo another full body look before heading over to the dining room table.

 

A moment of silence passes before Rie’s mother, speaks up. 

 

[Well, it's a little early, but why don’t I get started on breakfast?] Emma suggests, moving into the kitchen when she’s met with a chorus of ‘Yes please’ from the others. Ryo glances nervously around the kitchen as people begin sitting down at either the dining room table or the couch in the living room, where Jason has turned the TV on. Looking over at Rie, the blonde motions for him to come and take a seat at the dining room table, which the raven haired man does, albeit rather reluctantly. 

 

It isn’t until he’s been sitting at the kitchen table for a few minutes that he finally notices both Rie’s brother and her grandfather, staring intently at him. He opens his mouth to mutter something about why they were both staring at him, but decides against it, not wanting to fuck himself over within the first hour of being here by acting like an ass. Once again, Rie comes to his rescue, walking over to Genji and slapping him on the back of the head before placing a glass of water in front of her grandfather.

 

[OW, what the hell was that for?] the young man complains, rubbing his head. Rie glares at him before whispering something that Ryo can’t make out, before returning to help her mother in the kitchen. Genji glares at the back of his older sister’s head for a moment, before rolling his eyes and leaning his head against his arm, avoiding Ryo’s gaze. Jason meanders from the living room at some point.

 

[So, tell me a little bit about yourself, Ryo. What do you do for a living?] the blonde man says, taking a seat next to the raven haired man, crossing his arms over his chest, a casual smile spread across his lips. Ryo began to panic. How should he respond? What did he say? Clearly, this must be some kind of test that Rie’s father is putting him through to determine what kind of man he is. Determine whether or not he’s reliable and trustworthy and doing a good job of taking care of his daughter. Ya, that must be it, it wouldn’t make sense for it to be anything else. The question was vague enough that it gave Ryo plenty of opportunities to show Jason that he was a diligent, hardworking, and responsible man, but also left plenty of room for mistakes to be made if he accidentally spoke too much about the more ‘unsavory’ parts of himself. Rie may never have been bothered by his slightly bitter and cynical personality or the spots of trouble he got into when he was younger, but that doesn’t mean the rest of her family won’t. Ryo takes a deep breath, willing his heart to stop pounding against his rib cage.

 

[Uh, well I work for a shipping company full-time, and I’m a professional boxer, too] the raven haired man responds.

 

[That’s right. Rie mentioned that you were training as a boxer on the side. Featherweight class right?]

 

[Jr. Lightweight] Ryo corrects. [I started out in featherweight, but moved up after the Rookie King Tournament so I wouldn’t have to worry about my weight management so much.]

 

The older blonde nods his head in understanding.

 

[A boxer, eh?] Rie’s grandfather John asks, an amused smirk on his wrinkled face. Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow at the man.

 

[A good friend of mine for many years was a boxer. You’ve probably never heard of him because of how long ago this was, but his name was Ricky Rivera, and he was ranked 2nd in the Middleweight class for 6 years straight. His gym mate was the champion, so because of the rule that gym mates can’t fight in the official ring, he never got the chance to challenge for the title, not that it bothered him any, he never enjoyed being in the limelight much, so it worked out well for him. But anyways, even though he couldn’t fight the champ himself, he always was getting match request from people who wanted to challenge the champ after they beat him, and so after a while he got so good at keeping other gym’s boxers from gaining rights to challenge for the title, that he earned the ring name “The Gatekeeper”, and in the 6 years he spent ranked just below his gym mate, only 1 person ever managed to made it past him and challenge for the title, and even then, most people who saw that fight will say that Ricky should have won] John explains, and to be perfectly honest, Ryo actually finds the old man’s story to be rather interesting.

 

[What happened to the one guy who managed to challenge for the title?] The raven haired man asks, curiously. John rolls his eyes and shakes his head. 

 

[It was pitiful. The guy comes out and approaches the ring like he’s some big shot, makes a couple of stupid insults about the champ and about Ricky, then gets his ass handed to him in the first round. 37 seconds in, if I remember correctly. The sorry bastard never set foot in a ring ever again, and good riddance too, the guy was a royal cunt.]

 

[Oh John, please. Don’t use such vulgar language in front of our guest] Emma scolds lightly from the stove, waving her spatula at her father-in-law.

 

[Eh, don’t worry about Ryo, he’s heard worse from me] Rie chimes in, pouring drinks into glasses and taking them to the kitchen table, ignoring the glare her mother sends her as she winks at Ryo.

 

Ryo spends the better part of the next hour talking with Jason and John, and the more time that passes, the less anxious Ryo eventually becomes. He’s still slightly nervous around the other men, and definitely does not enjoy the way Rie’s younger brother Genji continues to stare at him like he’s been caught committing some sort of crime, but for the most part, by the time breakfast is served, Ryo has calmed down enough that his heart is no longer threatening to burst from his chest at any moment. 

 

“What’s that stuff?” Ryo asks, leaning over to whisper into Rie’s ear, pointing at the circles of black… stuff that have been served in a black iron skillet in the center of the table, along with a variety of other seemingly random food items such as beans, eggs, sausage, bread, and some tomatoes. 

 

“Ok, so everything you see here is part of what’s called a ‘Full English Breakfast’ or ‘Full English’ for short. The stuff you’re pointing at right there is called black pudding. I don’t know if they have an equivalent to it in Japan, but it’s like a kind of blood sausage, and it's actually really good” the blonde explains, taking a piece for herself and putting it onto her rapidly filling plate. From what Ryo can see, everyone appears to have taken a little bit of everything from the center of the table, so not wanting to look out of place, the raven haired man does the same, filling his plate up with small portions of everything that has been served. He decides to hold off on the black pudding, though. Ryo’s not entirely sure how he feels about that just yet.

 

[So Rie, do you like, talk in Japanese a lot with Ryo?] Rie’s sister Kaori asks, her gaze passing lazily between her older sister and her boyfriend sitting next to her.

 

[Well, I do live in Japan, so yes Kaori, I’d say do generally tend to speak Japanese, when I am in Japan] Rie replies, her voice laced with sarcasm. Kaori glares at her.

 

[You know what I mean] the girl defends as Rie snickers at her. Rie’s mother chuckles lightly.

 

[Rie was the only one who ever showed any interest in learning Japanese, and even from a very young age she was always rather good at it] Emma explains. [Many of my brothers and sisters were adopted from various parts of the world like I was, and even though we were all raised British, my parents were always very adamant about us learning at least a little bit about the places that we came from. When I was a little girl, they would often send me and my 2 younger sisters to the Asian Cultural Center after school and during summer vacations. I learned to speak a little bit of Japanese myself, and I always wanted the kids to know at least some basic conversation in case they ever wanted to visit Japan someday. It turned out to be rather useful in Rie’s case, so I’m glad I did it.]

 

[You say that now, but the first time she came home and said she wanted to pack up all of her shit and move halfway across the world, you’d thought she’d lost her bleeding mind] Kaori chimes in, giving her mother a pointed look.

 

[I absolutely did not] Emma squawks indignantly.

 

[Yes you did] Rie argues. [And on top of thinking that I’d lost my bleeding mind, you spent 2 whole weeks trying to convince me not to go, which honestly, is the entire reason why I actually ended up going, because you would not get off my fucking back and it annoyed me so much that I decided to do it simply to spite you.]

 

Ryo chuckles under his breath as Emma glares at her two daughters in a way that only a mother could. It was moments like this that reminded Ryo of how much he missed his own parents. Sitting around the dining room table, eating a meal together surrounded by family, poking fun at each other and laughing about everything and nothing, these were things that Ryo hadn’t experienced in years, and although he had long since numbed his heart to the pain and agony that came with the sudden loss of his parents, it was at times when he was directly confronted with that he no longer had, that the bitter and aching pain he felt after he had been told that his parents were dead, returned, settling itself in the center of his chest and causing his stomach to churn. Rie bumps his shoulder lightly, grabbing the raven haired man’s attention.

 

“You alright, love?” She asks, noticing Ryo’s sullen expression. He clears his throat, averting his gaze back down to his food.

 

“Ya, uh… it’s nothing. I’m fine” he answers hastily. Rie clearly doesn’t believe him, but decides not to say anything about it, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to him. Ryo feels a hand intertwine with his own under the table, and although it doesn’t completely extinguish the dull ache in his chest, it lessens it enough that Ryo finds himself able to enjoy the remainder of breakfast with Rie’s family. It was weird, being surrounded by so many people all at once, but also nice, in a rather strange way.

 

The remainder of Ryo’s first Sunday in England passed by rather uneventfully, mostly because the raven haired man spent the majority of the day sleeping off his jet-lag. Despite getting a decent amount of sleep on the plane ride over, Ryo ended up passing out on the couch almost immediately after breakfast finished, and was left alone until around 2 in the afternoon, when Rie woke him up so that he wouldn’t oversleep and end up wide awake all night.

 

By Monday morning, both Rie and Ryo were feeling significantly better in terms of their jet-lag, although Ryo would have loved nothing more than to simply stay in bed with Rie, sleeping the day away while everyone else was out of the house, doing whatever it was they usually did on a weekday. But unfortunately, the blonde had other plans in mind for them.

 

“Ryo, come on, get up” Rie demanded, slamming a pillow over his head in an attempt to wake the raven haired man up. Cracking an eye open, Ryo frowned once he noticed that Rie was not only up and out of bed, but also fully dressed. The raven haired man groans, shoving his face back into his pillow. 

 

“Ryooooooooo. Come on, I want to show you around the city” the blonde whines, giving his shoulder a shove.

 

“Can’t we do that later” Ryo mumbled into his pillow.

 

“No” Rie says firmly, yanking the blanket off of him. Ryo groans, but it's quickly turned into a strangled grunt when a set of paws land forcefully on his back, knocking the wind out of the raven haired man. Rie laughs as Ryo turns around and is met with the sight of a white and brown dog, with pointed ears, a slightly rounded face, and a fluffy curled tail, that definitely wasn’t the spotted pitbull that Ryo was used to crawling all over him.

 

[Bento, naughty boy. What are you doing to Ryo?] the blonde laughs, grabbing the dog around the middle and hauling him off Ryo. 

 

Bento, Ryo learned, is an 8 year old shiba inu that was given to the Araya family as a gift from some family friends. Unlike Koda, who is very much Rie’s dog, Bento technically belongs to Rie’s parents, and so the blonde was unable to bring the shiba with her to Japan like she wanted to when she moved over 2 years ago. It hasn’t been explicitly stated by anyone, but Ryo gets the feeling that Rie received Koda when he was a puppy, as a gift just before she moved away, as a means of deterring her from stealing Bento away behind her parents backs. The plan had obviously worked as intended.

 

Despite how much Ryo wanted to just go back to sleep, he knew that Rie wouldn’t leave him alone until he finally did get up, so with a sigh and a heave, Ryo ripped himself from the comfort and warmth or Rie’s bed, and headed into the bathroom next door to shower. 

 

Rie’s childhood bedroom, which the couple would be sharing for the duration of their stay at the Araya household, was decorated much like how any teenager’s bedroom would be. The walls were covered in a variety of posters dedicated to various rock and punk bands, as well as some paintings and drawings that Rie had made herself, the top surfaces of her desk and dresser were covered in a variety of nic nacs and random things that Rie decided not to take with her when she moved to Japan, and opposite the foot of the bed, was a table that held of an average sized TV, which was connected to a Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, as Rie called it. Scattered across the table next to the game console were a variety of different games that Rie liked to play.

 

Ryo had never really been interested in videogames himself as a teen, but he’d enjoyed watching Rie play a game called ‘Legend of Zelda’ while they were lying in bed the night before, so he supposes they aren’t quite as boring as he originally thought they were. Then again, that might only be because he found Rie’s frustrated ranting whenever she lost or died to be rather amusing, but she didn’t need to know that. 

 

Once he finished showering and dressing himself, Ryo trudges down 2 flights of stairs, since Rie’s bedroom is on the third floor, and is met with the sight of Emma, dressed in her chef uniform, finishing up with making breakfast. The older woman smiles when she notices the raven haired man.

 

[Good Morning, Ryo] she greets cheerfully. [Are you hungry? I have pancakes and sausage on the table if you’re interested.]

 

[Sure, thanks] Ryo says, taking one of the plates that was stacked up on the kitchen island, and piling one of the still steaming pancakes, as well as a few pieces of sausage, onto his plate, before heading over to the kitchen table and taking a seat next to Rie.

 

The couple leaves the house not long after finishing their breakfasts, heading straight for the Underground Railway, which wasn’t too different from the Tokyo Metro, except maybe a little smaller in size, and everything was in English. Ryo and Rie board the train heading for central London just as the doors begin to close, thankfully making it on without getting caught. Rie grabs on to Ryo’s hand, practically beaming with excitement as the train jerks to life and begins to pull away from the station, and while Ryo doesn’t completely understand why the blonde is so fixated on giving him a tour of London, a part of the raven haired man can’t help but share the blonde’s infectious enthusiasm, a small smile of his own spreading across his lips as the train takes off down the tunnel toward their destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels really weird not posting a chapter everyday after doing it for a month straight, so as an apology for having to cut down on the amount of chapters I post because of finals, here’s a nice long chapter of Ryo meeting Rie’s family FINALLY! I hope you like the Araya family, I definitely want to flesh out their characters a bit more because I don’t feel like I was able to do much of that in this chapter, but hopefully I can mold them into well rounded characters in the next few chapters. As strange as this might sound, I think Grandpa John might be my favorite so far, if only because he’s an old British man with 0 filters and as colorful a vocabulary as one could expect from a crotchety old man, also he’s fucking hilarious and I’ve yet to decide if he’s actually senile, or if he’s just fucking with everybody. Thanks so much for reading, comment down below telling me your thoughts, and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 32, love you lots, Bye!!!


	32. Bar Brawl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Chapter. Enjoy!

Several hours have passed since Ryo and Rie first stepped out of the underground in central London at 9 o’clock, and while Ryo is certain that they’ve only managed to cover roughly half of what the sprawling city has to offer in terms of tourist attractions and generally popular places to go, Ryo is absolutely exhausted. Rie on the other hand, seems no less energetic than she was when they first headed out this morning, which wouldn’t have been such a bad thing were she not currently dragging Ryo around behind her at a breakneck pace.

 

By the time 6 in the evening rolls around, Ryo honestly thinks his legs might give out from under him, which was strange considering that he is usually on his feet all day, not just for work, but for boxing training as well, so the fact that his feet hurt so much is actually quite surprising. Nonetheless, Rie takes pity on him, ending their tour there for the day, before leading the raven haired man to one last destination.

 

“Trust me Ryo, this place has the best pub food in all of London. You’re gonna love it” Rie assures as they push and shove their way through crowds of people, before turning into a dank looking alley. Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow as they arrive just out front of an old, poorly maintained looking pub. The paint was peeling off and the windows probably hadn’t been cleaned in a few months, but despite how run-down the place looked, Ryo could clearly see that the lights were on, and the place appeared to be pretty full, if the sound of laughing and talking coming from inside was any indication. Rie seems unbothered by the state of the place, simply opening the door and heading inside, followed closely behind by Ryo.

 

Rie leans in and whispers to Ryo.

 

“I used to come here a lot as a kid, so these guys are practically like uncles and older brothers to me, but I wasn’t able to swing by here the last time I came home, so these guys haven’t seen me since I moved away a few years back.

 

The inside of the pub, thankfully, looks a lot better than the outside, and is currently jam packed with people, most of them older men with tattoos and grizzly beards, but their are also some younger people there, eating, talking, laughing, and drinking along with everyone else. If Ryo didn’t know any better, that raven haired man would have thought that they’d walked right into a big family reunion.

 

[Hi, welcome to Annie’s Brewery, best food and booze on this side of Tower Bridge, what can I help you with?] A young black man with a big frizzy afro who’s sitting behind a counter asks, uninterestedly, not even bothering to look up from the piece of paper he was writing on as the couple enter. Rie steps forward, placing her hands on her hips.

 

[And just what kind of welcome is that? Do you honestly expect to pull in long-term customers that want to keep coming back everyday, when the first thing they hear when walking through the doors of this run down little hole in the wall is that pathetic excuse for a welcome. Why, I’ve never experienced such poor customer service in my entire life, and it's such a shame, considering all the wonderful things I’ve heard about this place too] Rie says in a loud voice that echoes throughout the pub, causing every worker and patron to turn their heads, with less than pleased expressions on their faces, at the person who just insulted their favorite handout. Ryo looks down at the blonde in confusion, wondering what the hell she was doing, making a bar full of drunk men mad at her. The young man behind the counter scowls and finally looks up from his paper, ready to give Rie a piece of his mind, but before so much as a single word can leave his mouth, his eyes, as well as the eyes of every person in the pub, go wide, as Rie smiles and waves.

 

[Evening fellas. Miss me?]

 

[ **RIE!!!** ] the entire pub yells in unison, and before Ryo can even process what’s happening, Rie has been yanked from his side and pulled into the now laughing and cheering crowd, where the blonde is quite literally passed around from person to person, as they all take their chance to hug and kiss the blonde as though she were family. Ryo stands at the entrance to the pub for what feels like an eternity, watching with confusion and shock as Rie goes around greeting every single person, laughing and talking as they all try to find out what the hell she was doing here.

 

Finally, the blonde breaks away from the crowd, and all eyes watch her trot over to Ryo, taking the raven haired man’s hand and dragging him over to stand in front of everyone. Ryo can feel his palms beginning to sweat as the audience regards him with looks of confusion and suspicion.

 

[Who’s the brooding tosser?] a large oversized man with brown hair and black sunglasses, sitting in the back, asks. Ryo has no idea what a ‘brooding tosser’ is, but he assumes by the man’s tone of voice that it must be some kind of insult.

 

[Oh, shut up Tommy, the only tosser here is you] Rie deadpans, causing the crowd, minus Tommy, to snicker in amusement.

 

[I am NOT a tosser] Tommy squawks indignantly.

 

[Says the man whose only date in the last 5 years was with his left hand.] The crowd bursts out laughing at that, and Ryo feels slightly more at ease now that everyone isn’t staring at him like he’s some alien species who just touched down in his spaceship. Alas, the feeling does not last long, as Rie speaks up.

 

[Anyways, I know I didn’t get the chance to stop by the last time I was here, so I wanted to make sure I said hi this time around, but I’m also here because I have someone very special I’d like to introduce you to, tonight] the blonde begins, smiling up at Ryo. The raven haired man in question swallows thickly as silence falls over the pub. Oh god she wanted him to introduce himself, didn’t she.

 

[Uuuuuh] Ryo stammers, clearing his throat as a few people snicker at him. [Hi. My name is Ryo.]

 

The raven haired man falls silent after that, unsure of what else to say that won’t end up getting him laughed at. A few moments of tense silence pass before the black man from earlier speaks up.

 

[This that Japanese bloke we’ve been hearing about? The boxer guy?] he asks.

 

‘Does everybody know about me?’ Ryo wonders to himself.

 

[Yup, this is him] Rie says cheerfully. Another tense moment of silence passes while the crowd of people analyze Ryo.

 

[He doesn’t look so tough] a young man sitting at a table to the far right says. Rie groans, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration as a young man with black hair, wearing a tank top and camouflage cargo pants stands up from his seat.

 

[Dean, can we maybe not do this right now?] Rie asks through gritted teeth, fixing the approaching man with a glare. The man in question merely shoves her out of the way, moving to stand directly in front of Ryo, a cocky smirk on his face.

 

[Dean, I’m being serious here. You can’t beat Ryo, so quit being an idiot and sit down before you get hurt] Rie instructs, but is completely ignored.

 

[Dean, just listen to the girl and sit back down before we have to call the hospital for you again.]

 

[Ya mate, you’re records not exactly something you can throw around and actually scare people with.]

 

[Not to mention you’re a little low on brain cells as it is. I don’t think you can handle losing any more.]

 

Dean scowls as his bar mates proceed to laugh and pick on him.

 

[Oh piss off you dumb fucks, I mean it. He might be a fighter back where he’s from, but that doesn’t mean anything if he can’t hold a candle in a good old-fashioned bar fight. Am I right boys?] The young man is met with a chorus of applause from his bar mates, all of them cheering at the idea of a fight breaking out. [You might think you’re some big shot, but I’ll be the judge of whether or not you’re good enough for our girl, Rie. So what do you say? Feel like putting your money where your mouth is?]

 

Ryo glares harshly at the cocky bastard standing in front of him, his arrogant smirk growing wider and wider as the rest of the bar begins chanting, practically begging the two young men to fight.

 

[If the crowd wants a fight] Ryo begins, causing the crowd to quiet down slightly, [who am I to turn down the opportunity to beat you into the floor.]

 

The bar erupts in thunderous applause, immediately moving to create a sort of small ring around the two men. Dean cracks his knuckles and beats his fist against his chest in a meager attempt to intimidate Ryo. The raven haired man merely strips off his leather jacket, handing it to Rie, who looks less than amused, but also unsurprised, by the events that were unfolding before her. Ryo doesn’t even bother putting his guard up. He doubts he’ll actually need to.

 

A young woman stands up on the bar, motioning for both men to move to opposite ends of the ‘ring’ of cheering spectators that had been formed around them. Both men comply.

 

[Alrighty boys. We’ve got ourselves a standard Annie’s bar fight which means there are only 3 rules you must follow. Rule 1: nothing below the belt, no need to explain that any further. Rule 2: no involving the crowd, if you try using the crowd as your shield, it’s not gonna end well for you. Lastly, Rule 3: BEAT THE EVER LIVING SHIT OUT OF EACH OTHER.] The crowd cheers in agreement, beginning to chant the words ‘fight’ over and over again, as the woman raises her hand into the air, ready to begin the fight.

 

[On my command boys. Ready!]

 

[Steady!]

 

[FIGHT!]

 

Dean, the cocky bastard, immediately rushes forward, winding his arm back to throw a right straight. Ryo sees the mediocre punch coming from a mile away, and ducks under the poorly thrown punch with ease, moving to the other side of the ring as Dean struggles to keep his balance. He composes himself, turning around to glare at Ryo, before rushing forward to do the exact same thing. Ryo dodges his second punch with just as much ease as the first one. The crowd begins to grow restless.

 

[Dean, what the fuck are you doing?]

 

[Ya, quit fooling around you stupid twit.]

 

[He’s not even got his guard up, just fucking clock the guy and be done with it, already.]

 

[I don’t think he can.]

 

[Man, this guy’s pretty good.]

 

Dean glances around the restless crowd for a moment before turning back to Ryo, growing angrier and angrier the longer Ryo spends making him look like a fool. The raven haired man narrows his eyebrows when Dean changes his tactics, starting to move forward slowly, inching closer and closer toward his opponent. Ryo allows a small smirk of his own to spread across his face.

 

[GUAH...] Dean yelps in shock and pain when Ryo’s left fist makes forcefully contact right in the center of Dean’s face, sending the young man flying back into the wall of people on the opposite side of the ring. The crowd gasps in surprise.

 

[What the hell was that?]

 

[Did you just see that?]

 

[It was so fast.]

 

[I don’t even think I saw him throw a punch.]

 

[I didn’t either. It was like one minute Dean was moving forward and the next he was flat on his ass.]

 

[I think Dean’s about to get his ass beat.]

 

[Maybe he’ll finally learn his lesson about keeping his mouth shut and not getting into fights he can’t win.]

 

[Tear him apart, Ryo.]

 

Dean grits his teeth together, his face beginning to turn red with seething anger, as members of the crowd begin to shout and cheer for his opponent. Ryo doesn’t wait for him to attack. Launching forward, Ryo lands another flicker jab right to Dean’s face, knocking him back to the outer part of the ring. His friends catch him, forcing him to stand before throwing him back toward Ryo. The raven haired man takes full advantage of the crowds very kind delivery of Dean right back into Ryo’s range, and he throws another solid flicker jab, this time with so much force that the crowd is forced to move out of the way to avoid being knocked over by Dean, who’s sent careening back into a table. The man’s face is now covered in bruises and blood, but he’s not quite out yet. Time to rile him up a bit.

 

[What’s wrong, Dean?] Ryo taunts, [I thought you were gonna make me put my money where my mouth is. Maybe I’m not the one who thinks I’m a big shot when really the only thing I can do it talk.]

 

[SHUT UP] Dean yells angrily, wiping the blood off his face before charging back into Ryo with a loud cry. The smirk on Ryo’s face widens.

 

[YOU’RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT YOU STUPID LITTLE-] Dean never gets the chance to finish his insult, as Ryo lands one final flicker, effectively knocking into a vegetative state, but Ryo’s not done just yet. Winding his right arm back, Ryo puts his full body weight behind him, pivoting onto his front foot as he smashes his right fist into the side of Dean’s face, literally beating the other man into the hard wooden floors with a powerful right cross combo.

 

Silence fills the pub as everyone stares down at the unconscious Dean, blood beginning to pool onto the floor from his battered and bruised face. Ryo clears his throat and cracks his knuckles, grabbing the crowd’s attention.

 

[So. Anyone else?] Ryo challenges, slowly moving his gaze around, regarding everyone in the crowd with a confident smirk. [No? Nobody want to try and wipe the floor with me, like your friend Dean said he was going to.]

 

The crowd of men who had been rooting for Dean all averted their eyes, sweat dripping down their temples as Ryo slowly walked past them.

 

[Well that’s a shame, but I suppose a win’s a win, no matter how boring it is] Ryo says as he walks over to Rie, taking his jacket from her before wrapping his arms possessively around her shoulders, daring anyone else to try and get between him and his girl.

 

The part of the crowd that was rooting for Ryo bursts out laughing as Dean’s friends pick up the unconscious man, carrying him out of the bar.

 

[I told you the little idiot was gonna get his ass beat, and look what happened.]

 

[Man, what a fight, that’s something you usually gotta pay to see.]

 

[This guy really is a professional, isn’t he?]

 

From that point forward, Ryo was absolutely swarmed by people, all of them wanting to talk to him now that he was no longer seen as a threat. Usually, something like this would have been nothing short of torturous for someone like Ryo, who hated large crowds with a burning passion, but after a couple shots of gin had begun circulating throughout his system, he was able to relax a bit, and even wound up winning around $200 in a game of blackjack, despite having absolutely no idea how to play. Rie practically beamed at him from across the room as Ryo mingled and talked with, what was basically, her extended family, pleased that everyone, save for maybe Dean and his group of meat headed friends, seemed to like Ryo.

 

The couple didn’t end up leaving Annie’s Brewery until around 11:30 in the evening, both of them mildly drunk from the sheer amount of booze that had been shoved into their hands by various patrons of the bar, and their stomachs happily stuffed after eating an entire order of fish and chips that Rie had ordered for them at some point, which even Ryo had to admit was pretty delicious.

 

“So, what’d you think? Have fun today?” the blonde asks as they head back to the train station, their arms linked together as they meander down the street. Ryo merely shrugs his shoulders.

 

“It was alright I guess” he says, smiling when Rie lightly punches him in the arm.

 

“Fucking lier, yes you did, I can see it in your eyes” the blonde laughs as Ryo smiles down at her, though saying nothing more. Truthfully, Ryo did have a good time today. It might have been a bit tiring due to all the walking around they had to do, but ultimately Ryo can’t really think of a better way to spend his paid vacation days off than touring around one of the largest metropolitan cities in the entire world, getting into a fight with some loser at a bar, and then having free drinks shoved into his hand for the rest of the night while he cleaned people’s wallets of their hard earned cash. Ryo definitely enjoyed how unusually heavy his wallet felt in his jacket pocket.

 

All in all, Ryo would say that today had been a very good day. Hopefully the rest of their vacation would continue in much the same way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rio gets into a bar fight. About damn time if you ask me. Thanks, comment, love you lots, I have finals, pray for me, bye!


	33. Meeting Donny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

Just when Ryo was really beginning to enjoy his time away from work and training and the everyday stresses of his adult life, everything just had to go completely to shit. 

 

[Mum, where’s my reception dress?]

 

[Has anybody seen my tie?]

 

[Who took my shoes?]

 

[Why is my dress shirt all wrinkled?]

 

[This is why I wanted us to be packed last night.]

 

[WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE MY READING SPECTACLES?]

 

Ryo groans as he’s rudely awoken by the sound of panicked screaming and the thumping of footsteps running up and down the stairs. It was currently very early Thursday morning, and although the ceremony that brought Ryo and Rie to England wouldn’t be taking place until Saturday, for some strange reason all of the guests were expected to arrived at the location of the wedding sometime on Thursday. With a 4 hours car ride between Rie’s home in London and the Manchester Royal Hotel, the location of the wedding ceremony, Rie’s parents decided that they’d be better off leaving early in the morning, and arriving sometime midday, giving them plenty of time to settle in and explore the surrounding areas of Manchester.

 

Despite the seemingly solid plan Rie’s parents had come up with, both Ryo and Rie were in staunch opposition to it. Not only because of how early they were going to have to get up in order to leave by the time her parents had set, but also because the couple had absolutely no interest in being at the wedding any longer than they had to, so why the hell would they go a whole 2 days early, when they could just stay in London and then drive up the morning of the wedding, leaving as soon as the reception was over that night. Unfortunately, things weren’t looking like they were going to work in their favor, if the loud banging at Rie’s door was any indication.

 

[Ryo. Rie. Get up. We’ll be leaving soon and if both of you aren’t downstairs with your 

bags packed and ready to go in the next 30 minutes, you’ll both be receiving a beating you won’t soon forget] Rie’s mother Emma shouts harshly from outside the locked door. Rie lifts her head up from Ryo’s chest to glare at the door, sticking her tongue out in defiance, before allowing her head to fall back against Ryo’s shoulder.

 

[I mean it, Rie.] More shouting accompanied by more banging against the door has Rie groaning in annoyance, dislodging herself from Ryo’s embrace to stomp over to the door, unlocking and opening it.

 

[ **I’m. Up.** ] Rie bites through her teeth, before slamming the door in her mother’s face. Unfortunately for Ryo, the blonde does not immediately crawl back under the covers with him like he was hoping she would, instead beginning to throw the last remaining items of clothing she had yet to pack into her overnight bag, leaving for the bathroom after zipping the bag up. 

 

‘Goddammit, I guess we really aren’t getting out of this, are we?’ Ryo laments to himself, reluctantly heaving himself up from the bed while rubbing at his eyes tiredly. Rie walks back into the room a moment later, closing and locking the door behind her before beginning to undress. Ryo pretends not to stare. A shirt thrown directly at his face tells him he failed miserably.

 

“Hurry up and get dressed. Mum’s on a warpath today and there will be trouble if everyone isn’t downstairs and ready to go when she says we need to be” Rie says, her voice containing a slightly frustrated tinge to it. Ryo widely decides that it would probably be best for him to just go along with everything and not complain too much. As much as he doesn’t want to go to this stupid wedding, Rie seems wound up enough as it is, and he definitely doesn’t want to anger her mother. She might seem like a nice lady on the surface, but Ryo would much rather not incur her wrath. 

 

Around 30 minutes later, both Ryo and Rie fridge down the stairs, where everyone is currently convened in the kitchen, Rie’s mother trying to figure out who will be driving in which of the two cars the Araya’s have to drive all of them to Manchester. 

 

[Alright, so me, Jason, and John will take one car and go pick up Sam and Max along the way. Meanwhile, Rie, Ryo, Genji, and Kaori will take the second car and go pick up Donny at his place] Emma explains as the couple enter the kitchen. 

 

[Rie, who’s driving for your group?] her mother asks. The blonde shrugs. 

 

[Ryo and I can take turns driving up there. We’ll probably need to stop for a bathroom break once or twice anyways.]

 

[Hey, why can’t I drive?] Kaori asks, crossing her arms indignantly. 

 

[Because you’re a terrible driver and I am NOT getting in a car if you’re the one behind the wheel] Rie replies, causing her sister to gasp offendedly. 

 

[I am not a terrible driver] the younger girl argues. 

 

[Yes you are] Genji says. Kaori scowls and crosses her arms, but decides to say nothing else. 

 

[Alrighty then, with that figured out, here are the keys, they garage door is open, so get a move on] Rie’s father Jason says, handing the car keys to Rie. The group of four head out into the garage, throwing their bags into the trunk before climbing into the car and heading off. 

 

[So where the hell am I going again, Kaori?] Rie asks as she pulls out onto the street and begins driving down the road. 

 

[Donny’s apartment. It’s in Mayfair. Take a left up here] Kaori instructs. Ryo leans in and whispers to Rie. 

 

“Who the hell is Donny?” 

 

“Kaori’s “new” boyfriend. I say new in quotation marks though, because they’ve been together for almost 2 years now. She kept him a secret from everyone and only introduced to my parents a month or so ago. Needless to say everybody was pretty surprised.”

 

“Why’s that?” Ryo asks, confused. Rie casts a glare in the rear view mirror, seeing Kaori and Genji arguing and elbowing each other in the backseat.

 

“She’s always been really secretive when it comes to who she hangs out with. She only brings her closest friends over to the house, and while this is the first time she’s ever come out and said she has a boyfriend, she’s mentioned to me that she’s had a few in the past.”

 

“Ok, but what does this have to do with this Donny guy?”

 

“Well, if you haven’t already noticed, word tends to travel pretty quickly in my family, so after Kaori introduced Donny to my parents, a few weeks later the invitation inviting everyone to Emilia’s stupid wedding showed up, and Donny’s name was on the list of invitees” Rie explains. 

 

“Oh, so like me?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“So what’s he like?” Ryo asks. The blonde shrugs her shoulders.

 

“I don’t know, I’ve never met him before. From what Kaori’s told me he seems to be a very nice boy. She mentioned that he had a bit of a difficult childhood and is a bit rough looking, but I suppose we’ll see when we get there.” Ryo nods his head in understanding, moving to look out the window as they drive down the road.

 

20 minutes later, Kaori instructs her sister to pull over in front of a row of apartments, getting out of the car almost as soon as the car comes to a stop. Rie parks the car and gets out to follow her, leaving Ryo and Genji inside the car. The raven haired man casts a glance back at the younger boy, who regards him with an uninterested expression.

 

[Don’t look at me, I’m not going in there] Genji says, crossing his arms over his chest. Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow but says nothing as he gets out of the car and follows the two girls to the front door. Kaori has a nervous expression etched onto her face as she knocks on the door. A moment of silence passes before a lock clicks and the door swings open, revealing a tall young man with pale skin, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and two scars, one running through his left eyebrow, and the other cutting diagonally along the right side of his lips, wearing jeans a green long sleeve button up shirt, and black combat boots. The boy smiles, making the scar on his lips all the more apparent, once he sees Kaori standing at the door, but immediately stiffens once he notices Rie and Ryo, especially Ryo.

 

[Hey Donny] Kaori greets casually, trying to act like she isn’t as nervous as the boy in front of her looks.

 

[Uh, h-hey…] the boy says, trailing off as though he were about to say something else but decides against it at the last second. A long moment of tense and awkward silence passes before Donny finally snaps out of the fearful panic he’d been paralyzed in for a moment.

 

[Oh uh, I’m just about ready to go, I just need to throw a few more things into my bag, but would you like to come in for a moment?] the boy asks politely, stepping out of the way of the door to allow the three guests to enter his tiny apartment, which Ryo quickly realizes is even smaller than his and Kumi’s back in Japan, albeit this apartment has multiple floors to make up for the overall lack of floor space. 

 

[Pardon the mess, my roommate’s a bit of a slob and I haven’t had much chance to clean up the past few weeks with finals and work and sessions at the studio] Donny says as he enters the living room, with Kaori, Rie, and Ryo following closely behind him. 

 

The living room is small, containing only a ratty old couch and an equally ratty coffee table with an old box TV on it. The walls were mostly bare, save for a few picture frames scattered around randomly on the walls. What catches Ryo’s attention however, is the farthest corner of the room, which houses not 1, not 2, but 3 large string instruments, a base, an electric guitar, and an acoustic guitar, all of which contrast rather heavily with the rest of the room, considering that they look rather expensive and well maintained, compared to the dilapidated state of the rest of the living room. Against his better judgement, Ryo approaches the instruments, ignoring whatever conversation was going on between Rie, Kaori, and Donny in the other room. 

 

For as long as Ryo can remember, his father had always loved music. Mashiba Eikichi didn’t play any instruments himself, but over the years, he had acquired a rather extensive collection of music records from various different musicians, both Japanese and foreign, that he would often listen to late at night in his study after he and Kumi had been put to bed. Being the naughty child he was, Ryo would often stay awake far past his bedtime and would quietly sneak into his father’s study, crawling into his lap or the nearby armchair, where he would spend hours on end, despite knowing that his mother would kill both him and his father if he were caught up at such a late hour. Some of Ryo’s fondest childhood memories were of him simply drifting to sleep cradled in his father’s arms, surrounded by the oddly comforting scent of cigarette smoke and aged whiskey that faintly permeated throughout the room, and the soothing melodies of his father’s favorite music.

 

It was for his 12th birthday that Ryo received the greatest birthday present of his entire life, second only to the 3-day weekend trip to the Kyoto amusement park his parents took him to when he was 10. A large, dark wood, steel string acoustic guitar that, at the time, was slightly too big for Ryo, but honestly, the boy couldn’t have been happier about it. The Mashiba family wasn’t rich by any stretch of the imagination, but Ryo’s father had a very good paying job and his mother was a master at budgeting and saving money, so they had plenty of left over savings to allow Ryo to take the guitar lessons that he had been begging for over a year for, on top of getting him his very own instrument.

 

In the 5 years that Ryo played guitar, the raven haired man had actually become quite good, and he greatly enjoyed being able to play along with some of the songs his father listened to. Unfortunately, like many aspects of Ryo’s life, things changed after his parent’s death. Although Ryo could never bring himself to sell the entirety of his father’s beloved record collection, his guitar had been one of the first things he sold off in his desperate attempt to get the money he needed to support both himself and Kumi. This sister had been devastated when she learned what became of her older brother’s most prized possession, and while Ryo was also quite saddened by having to let go of something that held so much sentimental value to him, he ultimately understood that sentimental value wasn’t going to put a roof over their heads or food on the table, so he did what he had to do, and the raven haired man hasn’t so much as touched a guitar since then.

 

[Do you want anything to drink?] the voice of Donny asks, snapping Ryo from his pensive state. The younger boy is staring at Ryo with a slightly nervous expression, which confuses the raven haired man a great deal, at least until he realizes that he is currently holding the acoustic guitar in his hands. Ryo quickly, but carefully, places the instrument back on its stand where it belongs.

 

[Uh, no thanks, I’m good] he replies, clearing his throat awkwardly. Donny’s expression shifts from nervous to slightly curious as he slowly begins to approach Ryo.

 

[Uh, Donny Rickman, by the way. I don’t think I introduced myself properly at the door.] 

 

[Ryo. Ryo Mashiba] the raven haired man replies flatly.

 

A moment of silence passes.

 

[You uh… you play at all?] Donny asks, motioning to the guitar Ryo had set down just a moment ago. Ryo hesitates for a moment before answering.

 

[I used to] he admits. [But it’s been a long time, so I doubt I remember very much.]

 

[Ah, I see. You started playing but gave it up at some point then?] Donny questions. The younger boy curls in on himself slightly when Ryo shoots him a glance out the corner of his eye.

 

[Something like that] Ryo answers. [But it wasn’t by choice.]

 

[Oh] is all Donny says as he nods his head. Silence falls over the two men. From somewhere in the house, Ryo can hear the sound of Rie and Kaori bickering about something that Ryo can’t quite understand from all the way down here. 

 

Honestly Ryo wasn’t even entirely sure why he was talking to this kid, after all, it wasn’t like his relationship with Rie’s sister was any of his business, nor did his relationship with Kaori make Donny any more significant to Ryo. Then again, perhaps it was the way Rie’s family seemed to tense up whenever the younger boy came up in conversation, the way everybody exchanged unsure glances with one another, Kaori practically curling in on herself and immediately changing the subject to something else. Ryo might not be the best when it comes to reading a situation, but even he could tell just from the way everyone acted, that the Araya family was less than ecstatic about Kaori’s choice in male suitors, which was rather ironic considering that Ryo had basically been adopted into the family the second he walked through the front door, and yet despite being more than approving of Rie’s relationship with him, the Araya’s all seemed incredibly apprehensive and wary of Donny. 

 

The raven haired man watches as Donny leans against the ratty old couch, picking nervously at the hem of his sleeve as he avoids eye contact with him. After a few moments of fiddling, the article of clothing rises up just enough for Ryo to catch sight of, what appears to be, a very large and colorful tattoo. This he found to be very interesting, mostly because Ryo had never actually seen anybody with a real tattoo before, and although he had kind-of-sort-of wanted one when he was younger, the fact that they were more often than not associated with the Yakuza and being a criminal in general, was a pretty solid reason as to why someone like Ryo should definitely not get a tattoo. At least not one as obviously places as the one Donny had.

 

Ryo wasn’t really the kind of person who cared enough about other people to judge them based on stupid things like their appearance, but even he had to agree that the younger boy looked a bit like your stereotypical teenage trouble-maker. The tousled hair, the scarred face, the slouched posture, the slightly anxious and guarded expression, coupled with a rather difficult to hide tattoo, was basically the equivalent of strapping a huge target to your forehead and asking people to throw darts at your face. Ryo wasn’t really in much of a position to judge though, considering that many people, to this day, think and feel the same way about him, especially back home in Japan. Hell, the only thing different between Ryo and Donny was the fact that Donny did have a tattoo, and even then, getting ink permanently stabbed into your skin doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re inherently more dangerous than someone who doesn’t have any tattoos.

 

He’d never admit it out loud, but a small part of Ryo couldn’t help but empathized with Donny’s situation, being all to familiar with the odd looks, the judgmental glances, and the rampant gossip that people back home often sent his way. Ryo wasn’t particularly interested in befriending anybody at this wedding, or really getting to know anyone outside of Rie’s immediate family, but considering that they were both stuck in somewhat of a similar situation, Ryo supposes that he could, at the very least, be nice to the kid so that he didn’t feel completely ostracized and excluded during the 3 day excursion he would have no way of escaping from.

 

[You do music or something?] Ryo asks, breaking the long stretch of silence and catching the younger boy’s attention.

 

[Oh, uh, ya, I do actually. I’m a music technology and guitar major at the Royal Academy of Music] Donny replies, puffing out his chest in pride. Ryo didn’t have a single clue what that meant, but Donny seemed to be pretty proud of it for whatever reason, so he supposes that must be a good thing.

 

[Really? And what do you plan to do with that?] Donny’s eyes practically sparkle as the boy breaks out into a long winded explanation of what he wanted to do and where he wanted to go with his career after he graduated university. Apparently, Donny is interested in writing and producing his own music, be it either in a band or as a solo artist. Although he’s only majoring in one instrument, Ryo is rather surprised to learn that Donny can play an impressively large variety of different instruments, ranging from strings to piano, to brass and more.

 

The younger man had major confidence issues and he clearly wasn’t used to people listening to him talk without cutting him off or getting mad at him, but as far as Ryo could tell, Donny seemed like the furthest thing from a bad kid as an 18 year old could get. He seemed smart, articulate, responsible, very passionate about what he was doing, and seemed to have a realistic understanding of what he was going to have to do in order to achieve his goals, which was something that very few people his age had a grasp of. By the time Donny finished describing his rather detailed plans for the future, Ryo has decided that, despite his appearance, Donny was easily the least threatening person Ryo had ever met in his entire life, and a part of the raven haired man couldn’t help but like his almost childlike excitement and hope for the future he was trying to build for himself, and to a certain extent, Kaori. Whether or not is was because Donny reminded Ryo of himself when he was younger, the raven haired man wasn’t entirely sure, but for some strange reason, Ryo felt inclined to keep on eye on the younger boy. Ryo doubted he would actually get himself into any sort of trouble, but if this Julia lady was really as much of a manipulative bitch as Rie makes her out to be, then he was going to need all the help he would get if he was going to make it out of this whole situation alive, and with his relationship intact.

 

The two men exit the living room once Rie and Kaori call from the front hall, stating that they are ready to go. Ryo grabs Donny’s bag and begins to head out to the car, stopping when he hears Kaori begin to complain.

 

[Donny are you really bringing your guitar with you? You’re not even going to have time to play it.]

 

[You don’t know that] the brunette argues, clutching the soft fabric of the case in his hands.

 

[Let him bring it] Ryo calls over his shoulder, catching everyone by surprise. [If all else fails, he can crack it over my head to stop me from accidentally murdering someone.]

 

Rie chuckles as Donny practically lights up, trotting after Ryo toward the car, his guitar triumphantly held in his arms. Kaori rolls her eyes and groans.

 

[First Mum and Dad, then Grandpa John, then the boys at Annie’s, and now even  **my** boyfriend prefers your boyfriend. This isn’t fair] Kaori grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest. 

 

[Oh relax, they’ll come around eventually] Rie assures, wrapping her arm around her sister as they approach the car, where Ryo and Donny are attempting to make room in the trunk for the younger man’s bag and guitar. 

 

They eventually get everything inside and close the trunk, climbing into the car. There is a slight dispute between Kaori and Genji over who gets to sit in the middle, Kaori insisting that it be her because she’s smaller and because she wants to sit next to Donny, Genji demanding it be him because he doesn’t want Donny anywhere near his little sister. He doesn’t outright say that of course, but it’s heavily implied. Rie has to yell at them to stop bickering and just pick a seat, so ultimately Kaori gets her way.

 

With their final passenger buckled and ready to go, Rie throws the car into drive, pulls back out onto the street, and begins the long and arduous drive toward Manchester, and what could be the worst social event Ryo will ever attend in his entire life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, a new character! Donny is a character I’ve had in mind for a while now, but I was never sure how I wanted to implement him, so I decided to make him Rie’s sister’s boyfriend, and have him be somewhat of a foil to Ryo. They are both very similar in a lot of ways in that they both went through a rough period in their lives that landed them in some sort of trouble with the law that causes them to be judged and looked down upon by those around them, both are generally anti-social and terrible at dealing with people, both have HORRIBLE self esteems that make them feel unworthy of the love and affection that their respective partners try to give them, and both had/have a tendency to get into fights with people a lot (although Donny doesn’t enjoy physical confrontation like Ryo does, but rather fights purely out of necessity and survival) due to their antisocial personalities and generally gruf appearances. They are however different in a lot of ways. While Ryo is often harsh, rigid, and a huge asshole, Donny is more timid and fearful, easily anxious and overwhelmed, and a bit of a pushover at times, while Ryo found solace and a place to belong in the world of boxing after years of never being able to defend himself from those around him, Donny found similar solace in the world of music, after years of being forced to fight and defend himself during the times when he had no one to look out for him, and while Ryo is making steps to break free of other people’s expectations and attempts to control him and set his own life’s course, Donny is at a point in his life where he needs and craves some sort of mentorship, a person older and wiser than him who he can sort of latch on to and confide in for advice or encouragement when he doesn’t know what to do or what direction he should be going. My reason for implementing a character like Donny and making him be the sort of character who is fundamentally very similar to Ryo, but not completely the same either, is to start showcasing how much Ryo has developed emotionally over the course of the story. It’s been mentioned before in the comments that Ryo has come a LONG way since the beginning of the story, especially when it comes to his capacity and his willingness to show emotion and vulnerability around other people. At the start he was closed off from everyone around him, easily annoyed by anyone’s attempts to socialize with him, and was in vehement denial of his growing crush on Rie. Fast forward to where we are in the story now Ryo is completely different in terms of overall attitude toward things. Granted he’s still the same asshole that we all fell in love with, and I intend to keep him that way because it wouldn’t be Ryo if he weren’t a huge dick sometimes, but through everything thats happened since the beginning of the story, we’ve seen Ryo open up to the people around him, we’ve seen him grow closer to Mr. Tanaka and develop somewhat of a father-son-esque relationship with him, we’ve seen him get over his fear of Koda and come to love the adorable pup, we’ve seen him take a leap of faith with his relationship with Rie, that catylyst for his growth and development, going from denying he actually likes her, to being a kind, caring, and openly loving boyfriend, we’ve seen him start to let go of Kumi a little bit, allowing her to live her own life without following her around and keeping her under his thumb because he’s afraid of loosing the only family he has left, and we’ve seen Ryo start to hate himself a little less too. We’ve seen so much growth from Ryo and its because he allowed himself to open up and actually accept the love, affection, and kindness of people he had previously shut out, and he’s reached a point where he’s learned how to accept those things from people he is close with, and that’s why I introduced Donny, because I think now is about the right time for Ryo to start doing for other people what Rie did for him, and for Ryo, Donny is going to be the first person he attempts to reach out to first, a) because he doesn’t see Donny as any sort of threat, so he has no reason to be mean to him, and b) because Donny reminds Ryo a lot of himself when he was younger, and although he doesn’t do it consciously, Ryo is going to end up becoming the mentor/older brother that Donny never had growing up, and develop somewhat of a close brotherly relationship with the younger boy, at least that’s the hope of what will happen. Anyways I’m rambling on too much, thanks for reading, finals are over soon but I’m out of backlogged chapters so it may or may not be another day or two before I can get back to posting daily, comment down below telling me what you think of this new development, and I’ll see you guys soon for chapter 34. Love you lots, bye!!!


	34. Arrival at Manchester Royal Hotel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Chapter. Enjoy!

5 hours and 26 minutes, 2 bathroom breaks, 3 wrong turns, and 1 near head-on collision with a cow, that Ryo swears appeared out of nowhere, later, the car-full of young adults pulls through a pair of large, ornate looking gates and drives down a very long driveway, before finally, the grand image of the Manchester Royal Hotel, that had loomed in the distance for the last 15 minutes of their drive, comes into full view, and good god is it big.

 

[Holy shit] Donny says aloud, his jaw dropped open in awe and shock.

 

[You can say that again] Rie agrees.

 

“I thought you said this place was a hotel” Ryo says as he gazes upon the absolute monstrosity of a building standing before them. The raven haired man wonders if he’s ever seem a building quite this large before.

 

“It is a hotel, but the difference between this one and most other hotels you’re used to, especially the ones back in Japan, is that this is a luxury hotel” Rie replies.

 

“Ok, what does that mean?” Ryo asks, slightly confused.

 

“You’ll see when we get inside” the blonde assures as she pulls the car to the front, rolling the window down as a valet approaches the car.

 

[Welcome to Manchester Royal Hotel. May I have your name and the reason for your visit?] the valet asks

 

[My name is Rie Araya and I also have Ryo Mashiba, Genji Araya, Kaori Araya, and Donatello Rickman with me. We’re all here for the Briggs-Rochester wedding event going on this weekend. I know its a day or two early, but we were instructed by my aunt Julia Rochester to come today rather than tomorrow or Saturday” Rie explains.

 

[Understood. May I have some photo identification please?]

 

[Just mine, or everyone’s?]

 

[Everyone’s if you wouldn’t mind.] A moment passes as everyone rifles through their wallets for some sort of ID, handing them to Rie, who then hands them over to the valet. The man takes a moment of skim through a list of names on a clipboard, checking them with the names on the IDs he was given, before crossing them off one-by-one. He stops when he gets to Ryo’s ID.

 

[Um… I’m terribly sorry, but you wouldn’t happen to have any other form of ID on hand would you? I can’t read this] the valet says apologetically to Ryo, handing back his driver’s license, which Ryo only now realizes is completely in Japanese, and therefore completely useless in a country that can neither speak nor read it. Ryo grumbles in slight annoyance, taking his wallet back out and digging around for his boxing license, which conveniently had both Japanese and English printed on it. He hands the card to Rie, who passes is along to the valet.

 

Another moment of silence passes as the valet checks Ryo’s ID with the information on the clipboard. He finally crosses his name off the list, and returns the card to Rie.

 

[Alright, looks like everything checks out. I can go ahead and take your car for parking if you’d like] the man says.

 

[Yes, thank you, I’d greatly appreciate that] Rie says, turning the car off but leaving the keys in the ignition, before opening the door and getting out. Everyone else quickly follows suit, stepping out of the car and taking a moment to stretch their sore muscles, before heading to the trunk and grabbing their things.

 

[How much does valet parking cost here?] Donny asks the valet curiously.

 

[Free of charge, ma’am, courtesy of the happy couple] the man responds.

 

[Well in that case, take this] Rie says, handing the man a folded bill, which he accepts graciously.

 

[Much appreciate, ma’am. You all enjoy your stay.]

 

[Thank you, we will] Kaori calls over her shoulder as the group takes their things and heads inside.

 

The lobby of the hotel is just as grand and majestic as the outside. The ceilings are high and have multiple large chandeliers hanging from them, while the floors are made of a pristine marble tile that are so clear that Ryo can see his reflection in them. The group approaches the front desk where a young woman is sitting behind the counter, typing away at a computer. Rie gets them all checked in and the group begins to make their way toward the elevator, when a voice calls out to Rie and Kaori from the distance. Both girls immediately deflate, looking as though they’d rather be anywhere but here at the present moment, as a woman with light brown hair, wearing a slim-fitting pink dress and flats, runs over to them, waving her hands and smiling widely.

 

[Oh god] Rie groans.

 

[Well, this was fun while it lasted] Kaori says.

 

[Is it me, or has she lost weight?”]

 

[You know, I think you might be right. Damn, she actually looks really good.]

 

[Well that’s fucking annoying.]

 

Donny leans in to Ryo. [Who is that?]

 

[You think I have any idea?] Ryo responds, and Donny merely shrugs his shoulders.

 

[I dunno, I figured you’d know more than me] the young man replies. The woman slows as she catches up to Rie and Kaori.

 

[Oh my god, I can’t believe you two are actually here, how are you both?] the woman asks, slightly out of breath.

 

[Hello Emilia] Rie grits through her teeth, putting a fake smile on. [We’re going well, and yourself?]

 

[Oh I’m alright, same shit different day and all that, but enough about me what about you two, I haven’t spoken with either of you in ages. Kaori you must be graduated high school by now] Emilia says, completely oblivious to both Kaori and Rie’s incredible discomfort.

 

[Uh, ya, I just graduated this past May actually] Kaori confirms.

 

[That’s wonderful, I’m so happy for you. And Rie, I’m surprised you even got your invitation in time with how far away you’ve moved since graduating University. How are things in Japan?]

 

[Well, uh, it’s… fine, I suppose. Work is steady and such, but not much else past that] Rie replies.

 

[Oh come on now, that can’t be all you’ve been up to, after all, you’re name wasn’t the only one on the invitation that Mum sent you, now was it?] Emilia says, passing a suggestive look toward Ryo, who stiffens uncomfortably. Rie chuckles nervously.

 

[Yes, I suppose it wasn’t, but I wouldn’t want to bore you with that story, it really isn’t anything special.]

 

[Nonsense] Emelia interjects. [I want to hear every detail. How did you meet? Where was it? Did you know he was the one from the start? How long was it before you started dating? Did he take you out to dinner? How did he confess? Does he speak English? Oh, it all sounds so exciting, you must have been-”

 

[EMILIA] a shrill, high-pitched voice echoes within the calls of the hotel. Emilia deflates immediately.

 

[Oh bloody hell] she mutters under her breath, as an older woman with similarly colored brown hair tied up in a tight bun, wearing thin-rimmed spectacles, a light sweater overtop a white button-down shirt, and a black pencil skirt that went down to her knees, walks hastily up to her, a disapproving scowl on her face.

 

[There you are] the woman says in a voice that can only be described as nails against chalkboard.

 

[Mum, you remember Rie and Kaori right?] Emilia asks, turning to her mother as she approaches

 

[Afternoon Aunty Julia. You’re looking well] Rie pipes in, catching Julia’s attention. The woman peers down at Rie and Kaori for a moment before looking away, uninterestedly.

 

[Ah yes, how could I forget. You two were always such… energetic children. I can see that neither of you have changed very much, save for perhaps the **extra baggage** you’ve brought with you] Julia says, putting emphasis on the words ‘extra’ and ‘baggage’ as she looks up and analyzes both Ryo and Donny with disapproving judgement. Ryo stands his ground, determined not to be intimidated by this woman, but unfortunately the same could not be said for Donny, who side steps to hide away from the woman’s incriminating gaze behind Ryo.

 

[Mum please, don’t be so rude] Emilia whispers harshly to her mother.

 

[Anyways, it’s been fun and all but the reporters and cameraman are waiting for you and Jonathan to make your public statements, Emilia, so it’s time to go.]

 

[Mum, I’m welcoming our guests, can’t that wait for just a minute?] Emilia asks calmly, but her mother’s scowl only worsens. Julia grabs Emilia, by the arm and yanks her away from Rie and Kaori,

 

[That’s what greeters are for you stupid cow, now get out there and don’t make me look bad or I’ll beat you ‘til you’re black and blue] Julia snarls as she drags Emilia away, her hand digging painfully into her daughter’s arm.

 

[Ow, Mum stop it, that hurts] Emilia hisses as she’s dragged away from the group by her mother. A moment of confused silence passes as they watch the strange spectacle take place.

 

[What the hell was that?] Genji, who had been thoroughly ignored throughout this entire ordeal, asks.

 

[I… don’t really know] Rie replies, looking just as confused as the rest of them, a look of uncertainty making its way onto her face.

 

[But I get the feeling that something isn’t quite right here.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, here we go, the madness begins. Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you think of this chapter down in the comments below, love you lots, see you soon, bye!!!


	35. Uncle Sam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

From there, the group of young adults finally hop onto the elevator and head up to their room on the 25th floor. Rie uses the key she was given to unlock the front door and head inside, followed closely behind by everyone else. A chorus of oohs and aahs leave their mouths as they take in the sight of the massive 3 bedroom suite, fit with a fully furnished living room, dining room, and kitchen, as well as 2 bathrooms, that they would be staying in for the next 4 days.

 

[This place is awesome] Kaori says excitedly, hopping onto the couch 

 

[This is probably the nicest place I’ve ever stayed in] Donny comments, gently lowering his bag to the floor and leaning his guitar against the wall, and Ryo finds himself agree with that statement, as he looks around the massive suite in awe, having never even seen a room this nice before, at least in person that is.

 

[So how do we want to do this?] Genji asks, leaning against the back of the couch.

 

[How do we want to do what?] Rie asks, looking at her brother with a confused expression. 

 

[Well, from the looks of things, this suite has 3 room, and there’s 5 of us, so that means that there will be 2 pairs of 2 in each room, and then somebody gets a room to themselves. So how do we wanna split ourselves up?] Genji clarifies. The group pass uncertain glances back and forth between one another. 

 

[Well if it helps at all, I’ve already got dibs on this room] a voice says from behind the group, and turning around reveals a tall man with blonde hair and a strong build, who looked suspiciously like Rie’s father Jason, that he has to squint his eyes for a moment to finally realize that it isn’t actually him.

 

[Uncle Sam] Kaori shouts happily, jumping off the couch to run and give her uncle a hug, which the older man happily returns. Rie moves from her spot next to Ryo and makes her way over to her uncle who give the blonde the same treatment he gave Kaori.

 

[Hello darling, how are you?] the man, Sam, asks with a kind smile as he hugs Rie tightly.

 

[I’m doing pretty great, thanks. And yourself?] 

 

[Oh, I’m doing alright, thanks] Sam says, finally letting go. Genji is third in line for a hello hug, but theirs is briefer and is coupled with solid pats to the back at the end of it. Ryo and Donny stand awkwardly in the background, watching the exchange take place.

 

[And who are these two fine young men?] Sam asks, turning his attention to the two boys standing by the entrance to the suite. Donny pales as the older man begins walking towards them, and makes to shuffle behind Ryo, only to be shoved out in front by the very man he was trying to hide behind. The younger boy stiffens as Sam stands in front of him, peering up at the significantly larger man with a mixture of awe and fear in his eyes.

 

[Hello. Are you the boxer, or the musician?] Sam asks, a casual smile on his face.

 

[O-oh, uh. Donny Rickman, s-sir. A-and uh, I-I’m the musician” Donny answers, sticking his hand out for a handshake, which Sam returns good naturedly. 

 

[Alright then, so that must mean that you-” Sam says, turning to Ryo and sauntering on over to him “-are that Jr. Lightweight boxer who beat the shit out of Dean at the pub the other night, am I right?]

 

[Ya, that’s me] Ryo responds, remaining firm and expressionless as he peers up at Sam who, like Rie’s father Jason, is at least 4 inches taller than Ryo, and is built like a brick wall. While the two men look very similar, Ryo notices that Sam appears older than Jason, showing signs of graying hair and prominent wrinkles around his eyes and mouth that Jason lacks, but past that, the two brothers look very similar to one another. Then again, all white people look pretty much the same as far as Ryo’s concerned.

 

[Well, in that case, it’s nice to meet both of you. If you haven’t already been informed by another member of the family, my name is Sam, and the shady bitch orchestrating this whole shitshow is my ex-wife.]

 

[Oh, jesus christ] Donny mutters with a disgusted look on his face.

 

[My condolences] Ryo says flatly, receiving a few horrified gazes from the younger adults, but a chorus of laughter from Sam.

 

[You’re a funny one, you are. I like this one] Sam says, patting Ryo on the shoulder. The raven haired man smirks slightly at Rie, who merely rolls her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose in mild annoyance.

 

[So, I take it you’re our 6th roommate then, Uncle Sam?] Genji asks.

 

[Ya, I’m surprised you’re the person we’re sharing with. I would have figured Cousin Lily or Alan] Kaori chimes in. Sam shrugs.

 

[Well, considering that my only options were this or sharing a room with your Grandpa John, I figured I’d have a better chance of holding on to what little remains of my sanity if I roomed with you guys.] 

 

[So who’s stuck with grandpa then?]

 

[Martin.]

 

[Oh poor Uncle Martin.]

 

[Eh, he’ll live] Sam laughs. [But anyways, in all seriousness, I must admit that there’s another reason why I will be rooming with all of you for the duration of this trip, and that is because I’ve been put in here by the adults to make sure that no… salacious activities take place throughout the duration of our stay. At least none that could result in gratuitous amounts or gossip and embarrassment on your parts.]

 

“What does [salacious] mean?” Ryo asks, leaning down to whisper into Rie’s ear.

 

“Sex, basically” the blonde replies, casting a glance toward Kaori, whose face has gone a cherry red.

 

“Oh” Ryo says, straightening back up the tips of his own ears having gone slightly pink at Sam’s implications.

 

[Now personally, I don’t really care what you all do with each other in your free time. As far as I’m concerned, you’re all adults who can make your own decisions and take responsibility for your actions, however, giving the circumstances under which we all are under, I also agree that it's probably best to keep things as clean and family-friendly as possible, at least while Julia’s on the prowl, looking for anything and everything she can use to drag you through the mud] Sam explains, giving each person a once over.

 

[So here’s how things are going to go] Sam begins. [Genji, you’re going to room with me, no this is not up for debate come on now, grab your bags and get your skinny ass in that room before I toss you in there myself.]

 

Genji opens his mouth to argue but wisely decided to remain quiet, grabbing his bag before heading into the room he would be sharing with Sam. The older man turns to the 4 remaining adults.

 

[As for you lot, I think it's pretty self explanatory who’s rooming with who. Girls, you take the room with the master bathroom. Boys, you take the room by mine. We clear?]

 

Kaori crosses her arms and pouts in annoyance, clearly displeased with this setup, but makes to attempts to argue. Donny breathes a sigh of relief, probably relieved that he didn’t end up sharing a room with Genji. As far as Ryo can tell, Rie doesn’t seem terribly bothered by the assigned living situation, perhaps a bit disappointed at the most. Ryo personally didn’t care all that much, after all, it wasn’t like he had been planning on doing anything particularly ‘salacious’ as Sam had put it, even if he and Rie did end up sharing a room, so the fact that they weren’t wasn’t really too much of a bother to him.

 

With the rooms assigned, the group splits off into their designated pairings and head off to their rooms to settle in. The room that Ryo and Donny are sharing is pretty average sized as far as hotel rooms go. There’s a closet where they can hang their clothes up, a large queen sized bed, a TV propped up on a bureau facing the bed, a desk, and a large chair in the corner, right next to a large set of sliding glass doors, that open up onto a small balcony.

 

[Wow, this place really is fancy, isn’t it?] Donny comments as he sets his bags down by the door and walks further into the room, taking in the pristine white walls, and neatly made bed. [This is probably the nicest place I’ve ever stayed.]

 

[Ya, you and me both] Ryo replies, throwing his bag against the wall and moving toward the bed.

 

[How long until that meet and greet dinner thing we have to go to later?] Ryo asks just as Donny is pulling out his guitar. The younger boy pauses for a moment to think.

 

[Kaori said it would be in a couple hours, I think. Why?]

 

[Because I’m taking a nap until then. Wake me up when it's time to go] Ryo says, flopping down onto the bed and getting comfortable.

 

[Um, alright then] Donny replies, taking a seat in the chair in the corner and beginning to strum quietly on his guitar, which helps to lull Ryo into a light, but restful slumber, as they await the drama that is bound to happen at some point in the next few hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating the last few days, I’ve been super busy getting ready for my trip out of town soon, and I just haven’t had the time or motivation to write at all, but I did manage to finish up this short little chapter. Hopefully I can get back to posting longer chapters a bit more regularly again, but for right now, enjoy this and I hope you like it, let me know what you think down in the comments below, love you lots, and I’ll see you all soon for chapter 36. Bye!!!


	36. Assault

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

At around 5 in the evening, Ryo is awoken from his nap by Donny, who tells him that dinner is being held in an hour, and that everyone has to get dressed up and look presentable for it. Ryo groans in annoyance, but heaves himself up from the bed anyways, going through the bag he packed before pulling out a pair of dress pants, a long-sleeve button up shirt, and a nice-looking blazer, all of which Rie bought for him a few days ago while they were out exploring London.

 

The raven haired man wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about Rie buying him such expensive clothing, when the most he’s ever bought for her was flowers and take-out. He knew it was dumb, but a part of Ryo couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed that he didn’t make as much as Rie did. Of course, it made perfect sense as to why the blonde made so much money, after all, she works for a very affluent company doing a highly-skilled job that she spent years learning and mastering, and she was an incredibly hard worker who produced only the best quality of work, so of course all of that would be reflected in her bi-monthly paycheck. Despite this, Ryo sometimes wished that he made that kind of money, if only so that he could spoil Rie with nice things like she was always doing for him. Oh well, maybe one day his finances would be good enough to afford those sorts of things, but for right now, he’s just going to have to suck it up and settle for saving up to buy Rie pretty little gifts every now and then.

 

By 6 o’clock, Ryo, Rie, Kaori, Donny, Genji, and Sam were all dressed up nicely and standing by the door, ready to begin heading downstairs for dinner. The dining hall that they were going to be eating in was absolutely massive, which confused Ryo slightly until he saw just how many people were going to be eating.

 

[Holy shit, how many people did Julia invite to this thing?] Genji asks, surprised by the sheer number of people waiting outside the dining hall.

 

[How many people do you think this is?] Kaori asks curiously, looking around at all the people as they wade their way through the crowd, looking for Rie’s parents.

 

[I don’t know] Donny says. [Maybe 100?]

 

[No way, there’s absolutely no way that there is any less than 300 people here] Rie chimes in.

 

[I heard from the woman at the front desk that over 400 people are expected to check in by the end of tonight] Sam says.

 

[400!] Kaori says, a shocked expression flashing across her face. [Does Emilia even know that many people?]

 

[A lot of them were probably invited by her fiancé, this is technically his wedding too you know, even though Julia probably took control of everything the second she could] Rie says.

 

[Good point] Kaori comments, silence falling over the group as they continue making their way over to where Rie’s parents were, by the door talking with a small group of people. At this point, Ryo seriously begins to wonder just how big Rie’s family actually is, as he is introduced to even more aunts, uncles, and cousins throughout the course of the next hour, before a butler informs everyone to begin making their way into the dining hall and find their designated seats.

 

Much like how things were for the Summer Solstice party that Ryo took Rie to a year ago, every seat was marked with someone’s name written on a fancy, decorated card, and for the most part, it appeared that guests for both Emilia and her fiancé would be mixed together, rather than separated like most would assume. What the reason for this arrangement was, Ryo neither knew nor cared enough to find out, as he took his seat in between Rie and Jason, simply observing all the people nearby as they chatted amongst themselves.

 

[Does anyone know where Emilia and Jonathan are? Won’t they be joining us for dinner this evening?] Emma asks, looking around the room for the married couple-to-be, confused when she doesn’t see them.

 

[Oh, the bride and groom won’t be joining us for dinner this evening] an elderly, rather wealthy looking woman replies to Emma’s question.

 

[How come?] Rie asks, curiously. The elderly woman regards Rie with a slightly annoyed look, as though she were being forced to answer a painfully obvious question.

 

[Well, I don’t know how more… modest weddings usually work, but this dinner is more for the guests to socialize and acquaint themselves with one another, while the parents and other immediate family have one final meal alone with their children before they marry. Tomorrow night is when the bride and groom will be present, accepting wedding gifts and congratulations and all that.]

 

[Ah, I see] Rie says slowly, regarding the elder woman with a nasty glare. Whether the woman takes notice of this or simply doesn’t care, Ryo can’t exactly tell. What he can tell however is that, for some strange reason, Rie is running on very little patience tonight, each word that comes out of the mouths of another one of those rich and pompous idiots grinding her gears a lot more than they usually would. Most of Rie’s family seems to be the same way, and from what Ryo can see from his seat, most of Rie’s family are either sitting in silence, avoiding any and all conversations with those around them, or look about 2 seconds away from jumping across the table and strangling someone. As weird and ironic as it might sound, for the first time in his entire life, Ryo might actually be the calmest person in the room, or at the very least the furthest from starting a fist fight with someone.

 

Thankfully the food arrives before anything terrible happens, and the large dining hall quiets down for a little while people eat their meals. The conversations pick back up slightly as all the dinner plates are being cleared away, and just when it seems as though the night will pass by without any massive problems, Kaori begins screaming from across the room.

 

[GET YOUR DISGUSTING HANDS AWAY FROM ME YOU PERVERT.] All eyes turn to Kaori, who’s stood up from her seat and backed away from the young man sitting next to her, pulling down on her dress with a disgusted look on her face. People begin whispering. The young man sitting next to her says something, standing up and taking a step toward Kaori, who steps back again.

 

[I SAID GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME] the girl yells again. The young man’s friends begins laughing and snickering amongst themselves, like this whole things was just a huge joke. Donny stands up, placing himself between Kaori and the advancing man. The two men converse back and forth, and although Ryo can’t hear what they are saying, from the look that spreads across Kaori and Donny’s faces, it was probably some kind of insult. The younger girl immediately advances on him, snarling in his face as she defends Donny from whatever untrue statement the other man just made.

 

Everyone watching the exchange gasps, and a few people scream in shock, as the young man’s fist winds back and smashes into the side of Kaori’s head, blood spraying out from her face as something, a ring of some kind, dug into her tender flesh and ripped it wide open, sending the girl flying to the ground. The young man’s friends all burst out cheering as the bastard wipes his blood stained fist against the white fabric of the table cloth, sneering down at Kaori and Donny, who had immediately got down to help the injured girl, like they were a couple of dogs he had just put back in their place.

 

Barely a second passes between when Kaori hits the ground and when Rie shoots up from her seat, knocking her chair to the ground as she sprints toward where her sister was lying. Ryo realizes far too late however, that Rie wasn’t heading for Kaori or Donny, but rather for the bastard who had just knocked her sister to the ground. People begin screaming and getting out of the way as Rie plows into the young man, knocking him to the ground, before crawling on top of him and beginning to beat the ever living shit out of him.

 

[ **DON’T. YOU. EVER. LAY. A HAND. ON. MY. SISTER** ] Rie grits through her teeth as she pounds her fists into the bastard’s face over and over again, with all the seething rage an older sibling can have. The young man is powerless to stop the blonde’s never ending onslaught against him, and it isn’t until Ryo snaps out of his gazed state, runs over to Rie, and yanks her up and into his arms, dragging her out of the dining hall kicking and screaming and spitting curses words that even Ryo has never heard before, that Rie finally stops and begins to calm down, her chest heaving, her breath labored, and her face a bright red color from overexertion. The raven haired man has to keep a solid grip on her forearm to prevent the blonde from running back into the dining hall and continuing to wail away on the stupid idiot, as Donny exits the dining hall, holding onto Kaori by the shoulders as she presses a white napkin against her bleeding face. Tears stream down the girl’s face.

 

[Hey, come here] Rie says, stepping toward her sister and pulling the sobbing girl into her arms, rubbing gentle circles along her back in an attempt to comfort her. [Shhhh, it’s ok. You’re gonna be ok. We’re gonna get you nice and fixed up, alright? They won’t even be able to notice it once we’re done.]

 

Rie’s parents come running out of the dining hall a moment later, clearly worried and confused as to what happened. [Rie, Kaori, what on earth happened? Why did you get up and-]

 

[GET AWAY FROM US] Rie yells, with as much anger and rage as she had for the bastard who hit Kaori. Her parents stop in their tracks, confusion spreading across their faces at Rie’s outburst.

 

[I told you something like this would happen. I told you that none of them could be trusted, but you told me to just keep my mouth shut and to not cause trouble and that everything would be fine. DOES THIS LOOK FINE TO YOU?]

 

[Rie… we’re just as angry about this as you are, but we need you to tell us what happened] Jason says calmly, attempting to reason with his daughter. It doesn’t work.

 

[Oh no. No no no no no, there will be no ‘finding out what happened’, not for you two, anyways. If Julia wants to know what happened and who to blame then she can come find out directly from the source] Rie spits. Jason and Emma exchange worried glances, but do not attempt to speak further.

 

[We should never have come. This was a bad idea form the very beginning and I should never have let you talk me or anyone else into this] Rie says aloud, though more to herself than anyone else, before turning and beginning to lead Kaori away from everyone.

 

“Ryo get my purse, please” the blonde calls over her shoulder. Ryo does as he’s told and godd back into the dining hall, grabbing Rie’s purse from the floor, as well as a spare napkin abandoned on the table, before heading back out, a few people following him to try and figure out what happened. By the time Ryo walks out the front doors of the hotel, Rie has already called for her car to be brought around front, and two more girls, cousins of theirs, stand around Kaori, trying their best to comfort and soothe the sobbing girl. Rie leaves her sister with her cousins to approach Ryo.

 

“Thank you, love” she says, taking the purse and the extra napkin, gratefully.

 

“You want me to come with you?” The raven haired man asks, reaching forward to wipe away at the tears that had begun to fall down Rie’s cheeks. The blonde shakes her head, covering Ryo’s larger hand with her own.

 

“No, that’s alright, the girls and I can take Kaori to the hospital and get her all sorted out. She might need stitches but thankfully both her eyes are unharmed, so the damage will only be superficial. What I really need is for you to stay here, find Genji, and keep an eye on things for me.”

 

“Me? What the hell can I do?” Ryo asks, slightly confused.

 

“At the moment, all the attention is on Kaori and Donny. I’m almost certain that Julia set up this whole thing to try and make us all look bad, but right now, her target’s Donny.”

 

“Why him? He didn’t do anything?”

 

“I don’t know” Rie says, shaking her head. “At first, I was afraid that Julia might try and come after you and drag you through the mud with everything she’s found out about you, but it occurred to me last night that Julia doesn’t know a goddamn thing about you. I mean, sure she’s crafty and tends to nose her way into things you’d never expect, but there’s absolutely no way that she can know anything other than what I’ve already told my family about you, so you’re not going to be her target. Donny, on the other hand, is someone that Julia absolutely knows all about, and so why would she target the Japanese guy she has zero dirt on, when she could go after the British boy with a troubled past? I’m almost positive she set that whole thing up, and even if she didn’t, it still works entirely in her favor.”

 

“And what about you? Isn’t she gonna have dirt on you too now, seeing as how you beat up one of her guests?”

 

“Oh please, I’ve long since stop caring what that heartless bitch thinks about me, and if all else fails and they take me to court, I’ve got eyewitnesses to back me up when I say that I was only defending my little sister against an assailant.” Rie says firmly, heaving a sigh. “I was really hoping things wouldn’t turn out this way. I really was.”

 

Rie’s car pulls around to the front of a moment later, and the blonde, as well as her two cousins, help Kaori into the car, getting in themselves once the bleeding girl is all situated, before driving off to the hospital, leaving Ryo behind to deal with whatever the fuck was going on inside.

 

“God fucking dammit.” Ryo groans to himself as he trudges back inside the hotel.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not really sure what to say as an explanation for this. Thanks, comment, love you, bye.


	37. Uncertainty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

It’s 1 o'clock in the morning before Rie, Kaori, and their two cousins, Maddy and Sarah, finally return from the hospital, and while Genji and Sam had long since retired for the evening, both Ryo and Donny decided to stay up and wait for the girls to return.

 

[Are you sure you don’t want us to stay and check up on her? We don’t mind sleeping on the couch] Rie’s cousin Maddy asks, her voice laced with exhaustion and concern. Rie waves her away.

 

[No, that’s not necessary. You two go and get some sleep, we’ll be fine. Thank you for coming with us, I really appreciate it] the blonde says before quietly closing and locking the front door, heaving a tired sigh. Donny has gotten up from his spot next to Ryo on the couch and gone over to wrap his arms around Kaori, who has a large bandage running diagonally from her left temple, all the way down to the right side of her chin. 

 

[I look hideous] the girl sobs into Donny’s arms.

 

[No you don’t. You look just as gorgeous as the day I met you] Donny says gently, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, before beginning to lead her toward the bedroom, closing the door behind them. “Come on, let's get some jammies on and get some sleep, ok?]

 

“I take it you’ll be sleeping with me in the big room?” Rie asks, taking off her dress and draping it over the back of the couch before slipping into the oversized t-shirt that Ryo had left out for her. The blonde plops down onto Ryo’s lap, practically melting into his arms as she gets comfortable.

 

“How did it go?” Ryo asks after a moment of silence. Rie shrugs her shoulders.

 

“About as well as you’d expect. The cut wasn’t deep enough that she needed stitches or anything, but she’s got to be really diligent about keeping it clean and making sure that it doesn’t get infected, or else she will need stitches, and it will scar” Rie replies. Ryo nods his head in understanding.

 

“Emilia came to see us at the hospital” the blonde says after a moment of silence. Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow at that.

 

“Emilia? The one who’s getting married?” Ryo asks. Rie nods her head in affirmation.

 

“What the hell was Emilia doing at the hospital?”

 

“She came over as soon as she heard about what happened to Kaori. She was practically in hysterics, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so upset before. She just kept apologizing over and over again, saying how she should have never let her fiance invite his stupid-ass friends to the wedding. I honestly thought she was never gonna stop, and to top it all off, she paid for the hospital visit and everything, no questions asked, just handed over her credit card and told us not to worry about it, and then left without saying a word. I just don’t get it.”

 

“I thought you said this girl was a total bitch, how come she seems to nice and friendly?” Ryo asks, finally voicing the question that had been on his mind since they first met Emilia in the front lobby early yesterday. Rie sighs tiredly, rubbing her eyes.

 

“I’m wondering the same thing myself, honestly” the blonde admits. “To be fair though, Emilia and I used to be really close when I was little, she was like the older sister I never had and I loved spending time with her. But as Julia’s relationship with Uncle Sam got dicey and talk of them splitting up started going around things… changed, Emilia changed, and nowhere near for the better.”

 

Ryo remains silent, allowing Rie to continue. 

 

“We all know that its Julia’s fault that Emilia ended up the way she did, but it was always really hard for me to not be mad at Emilia as well. I mean, we were so close for so many years and all of a sudden I just… wasn’t good enough for her anymore, and I felt sad and hurt and betrayed and angry for a really long time. But after sitting there in the hospital waiting room and talking with her for a little while, it was like being little kids again, talking about our goals and our dreams and where we see ourselves in the next 10 years, and what we want to do with the rest of our lives, and that sort of thing.”

 

“Oh ya, and what did she have to say about that?” Ryo asks, curiously. The blonde remains silent for a moment before answering.

 

“She said she wants to be a better person.”

 

“What does that mean?” Ryo asks, confused. Rie shrugs her shoulders.

 

“I don’t really know to be perfectly honest, but she told me about all the stuff she was doing the past few years. She went vegan, she started running every morning and doing yoga, she went to beauty school and became an esthetician, and she even worked for a beauty salon doing peoples makeup and facials for a few years. She’s had to give it all up so she could marry her fiancé, though.”

 

“What?”

 

“Ya, that’s what she told me. Her mother set her up with the guy she’s marrying, a year or so back, and as soon as he proposed a few months ago, Julia made her quit her job and everything. Something about well-todo ladies not having to work like ‘common women’.”

 

“What the actual fuck is wrong with this woman?”

 

“Oh my god Julia’s a psychopath, I swear upon my grandmother’s grave. Honestly it's the entire reason why Uncle Sam divorced her, she’s just absolutely mental and if she doesn’t get her way she throws a temper tantrum like a fucking 3 year old. And now this crazy fucking woman has not only gone and ruined her life and, not 1, but 2 marriages of her own, but she’s also on a warpath to destroy her daughter’s life just so that she can get ahold of the Briggs’ family credit card.”

 

“Wow, A+ parenting right there.”

 

“You’re not kidding” Rie sighs. Silence falls over the couple for a moment before Ryo speaks up.

 

“So what’s the plan?” 

 

“What do you mean?” Rie asks, a confused expression spreading across her face.

 

“Well, what’s our plan? Are we sticking it out until the end or are we trashing this stupid fucking wedding and going on a tour of Europe like we said we were gonna if things didn’t go our way?” Ryo clarifies, which Rie laughs at in amusement.

 

“I don’t really know right now. Honestly when we first talked about trashing the wedding I agreed to it because I expected to be just as mad at Emilia over this whole thing as I was at Julia, and while I am most definitely angry with Julia and her slimy tactics… I’m honestly not really mad at Emilia, at least not anymore. How could I be after how nice she was earlier tonight at the hospital?”

 

“Ok, what’s your point?” The raven haired man asks.

 

“Well, I guess I’m just a little conflicted. While I have no problems with ditching this whole shitshow, a part of me isn’t so sure how I feel about trashing Emilia’s wedding anymore, especially since she seems genuinely happy with this Jonathan guy that Julia’s hooked her up with. I don’t know how great their relationship actually is, but she says he’s a great guy and loves him a lot so, who am I to mess something like that up for her?”

 

“I think it’s entirely within your rights to mess something like this up for her” Ryo comments, pulling another laugh from the blonde.

 

“Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal. We’ll stick around for another day or two, and if nothing happens than we just keep going with our heads down and our mouths shut, but, if something else like this happens, I give you full permission to wreak as much havoc as your little heart desires. How does that sound?”

 

“I’m holding you to that” Ryo says, snickering to himself when Rie rolls her eyes.

 

“I’m sure you will” the blonde says, laying her head against Ryo’s chest and closing her eyes, a small smile spread across her lips. 

 

Silence falls over the couple as they relax from the mayhem of the previous day’s events, and while he hopes that his suspicions are just that, suspicions, Ryo can’t help the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that tells him that today was only the beginning of their troubles. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a boring chapter but next chapter is a lot more interesting I promise. Thanks, comment, love you, bye!


	38. Cheating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

Everyone wakes up tired and slightly irritated the following morning, and while they would all love nothing more than to just roll over and go back to sleep, breakfast is only held during certain hours of the day, so unless they all wanted to go hungry until dinner, they were going to have to suck it up and go down for breakfast. 

 

Ryo yawns tiredly as he stands next to Rie and the others in the elevator on the way down to ground floor. The dining hall, which is now serving breakfast, is full of all the same people from the day before, which displeases Rie greatly, since they all give her fearful or disapproving looks as she passes by. Ryo wraps an arm around her shoulder to help keep her calm as they pass by the asshole who hit Kaori the day before. The little shitstain’s face is covered in large, swollen bruises that constitute a range of nasty looking colors, and he very wisely hides behind his group of friends as the couple pass, Rie’s glare and Ryo’s growl enough to scare the little fucker into submission, where he belongs.

 

After waiting in line for a few minutes, Ryo and Rie grab themselves some food from the buffet, filling up their plates until they can’t carry anymore, before taking their food, as well as an extra plate for Kaori and Donny, who did not come down with them for breakfast, back up to the suite. They pass Julia on the way out of the dining hall, and while the old hag side eyes them cautiously as they leave, she makes no effort to stop them or attempt to talk to them, which is just fine as far as Ryo’s concerned.

 

Back in the suite, Rie gives Kaori and Donny their food, closing their door behind her, before heading over to the small kitchen table and taking a seat next to Ryo before finally digging into her own food. They eat in silence for the most part, save for some short bursts of conversation, but unfortunately their peaceful breakfast is interrupted by the sound of unintelligible screaming, followed by intense and rapid pounding at their front door. Ryo and Rie exchange questioning glances before the blonde gets up to open the door, revealing Maddy and Sarah, who burst into the room and slam the door behind them, panting heavily.

 

[ **HOLY SHIT, RIE** ] they shout simultaneously, their eyes as wide as dinner plates.

 

[Good morning to you too. Is there any particular reason why you’re screaming in my face at 8:30 in the morning, or are The Cranberries here? Because unless Dolores O’Riordan is standing outside in the parking lot, I’m gonna have to ask you to do this some other time] Rie says, an unamused expression etched onto her face.

 

[You’re not gonna believe what we just saw] Maddy blurted.

 

[Ya, it was insane, and we came straight here to tell you] Sarah continued, shoving her sister out of the way. 

 

[Ok, that’s great and all, but would you mind getting to the point and just telling me already, you know instead of standing around telling me you have something to tell me] Rie huffs, placing her hands on her hips. 

 

The two girls exchange glances with one another, before Sarah takes a Polaroid camera out of her bag and hands the blonde a picture. Rie takes the instant photo and looks at it for a moment, her face filled with confusion. 

 

[Ok… and why exactly are you showing me a picture of two people fucking against a doorway?] Rie asks. Ryo pauses chewing his mouthful of eggs at that question, and sends a questioning gaze over to Rie. 

 

[No, you don’t understand] Maddy said [Dont you recognize the two people fucking?]

 

Rie looks at the picture again, squinting her eyes a bit to get a better look. [The girl… isn’t that Jessica, Emilia’s maid of honor?]

 

[Yes] Sarah says. 

 

[Alright great, Jessica found herself a date, what of it?] Rie asks, still not understanding what Maddy and Sarah we’re trying to tell her. 

 

[The guy, look at the guy, you twit. Who is the guy she’s fucking?] Maddy snaps, tapping her finger against the picture. The blonde rolls her eyes but takes another look at the picture. A moment of silence passes before a look of recognition flashes across Rie’s face, and her expression shifts from annoyed and confused to shocked and appalled.

 

[Maddy. Sarah. Is the man in this photo, fucking the maid of honor against a hotel door, who I think he is, or is this another one of your practical jokes? Because if it is, then I need it to stop, right now] Rie says slowly, looking up at her two cousins with a very serious expression. 

 

[We wish this was just a joke, but unfortunately it’s not] Maddy says. 

 

[Well in that case, then I only have one question] Rie begins. [What the actual hell is the  **groom** is doing  **FUCKING THE MAID OF HONOR?** ]

 

[We don’t know] Sarah replies, just as confused and exasperated. Rie covers her face with both of her hands, groaning in frustration. 

 

[Where did you get this picture?] the blonde asks, after a moment. 

 

[We took it like half an hour ago. Sarah had her instant film camera with her because we were gonna go take some pictures around Manchester after we bought some snacks from the vending machine. We stumbled across Jonathan and Jessica going at it like hormonal teenagers on the way there, and from what they were saying, it seems like their little love affair has been going on for a while now] Maddy explains. 

 

[Oh my fucking god] Rie groans, pinching the bridge of her nose. [Have you told anyone else?]

 

[No. We knew you were the only person who’d believe us, even with the photo evidence, so we came straight here after we took the photo] Sarah responds. [Should we tell anyone else?]

 

[No! No don’t tell anyone else for right now, that’ll only stir up unnecessary trouble. Not to mention that Julia will probably catch wind of it sooner rather than later and do everything she can to sweep it under the rug so the marriage won’t fall through] Rie says.

 

[She wouldn’t try to cover this up, would she? I mean she might be a crazy bitch to everyone else, but you’d think she would stick up for her own daughter when she finds out that this Jonathan guy is cheating on her, with the maid of honor no less, right?] 

 

[Knowing that nosy witch, she might already know that he’s cheating, but I don’t think she really cares. In fact, I’m willing to bet that Julia does know, and that she’s been hiding it from Emilia so that she’ll go through with the wedding, giving Julia a full access pass to the Briggs’ family bank account, all without Emilia ever finding out about her future-husband’s infidelity, which she won’t be able to do anything about by the time she realizes it on her own] Rie explains.

 

[You honestly think Julia would go that far?] Sarah asks, a concerned expression etched across her face.

 

[Ya, I do] Rie says firmly. Silence falls over the room for a long moment.

 

[So what do we do about it?] Kaori asks, catching everyone by surprise as they turn to look at the younger girl standing in the living room, the bandage covering the wound she received the day before beginning to turn a pale rust color in certain places where the blood was beginning to seep through. 

 

[I don’t know, Kaori] Rie says. [What do you think we should do?]

 

Kaori’s gaze shifts down to the floor, and she fiddles with the hem of her shirt for a moment before answering.

 

[Well, if it were my choice, I’d want to ruin the whole fucking wedding somehow and then rub it right in Julia’s smug-ass face, but…] she trails off for a moment, shaking her head. [I don’t know. If this were Julia’s wedding then I’d be all in, but it just doesn’t feel quite right to ruin this for Emilia when she’s not the one responsible for any of this.]

 

[So then… I guess we’re stuck doing nothing?] Maddy asks. 

 

[There isn’t anything for us to do, Maddy] Sarah says.

 

[But we can’t just let her go through with this wedding if her fiancé is cheating on her. I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Emilia just yet either, but you’re honestly not serious about letting her go through with this without saying anything?]

 

[Who says we’re not gonna say something?]

 

Everyone turns to look at Rie, curious looks on their faces.

 

[What do you mean?] Kaori asks. The blonde smiles mischievously, and Ryo can tell even before she opens her mouth, that she has a plan. Whether or not that’s good thing though, Ryo’s not entirely certain.

 

[Well, you said that you didn’t want to ruin Emilia’s wedding, didn’t you Kaori?] Rie asks, turning to her sister, who’s eying her with an uncertain expression.

 

[Um, ya I guess I did say that] the girl responds.

 

[Well from the way I see it, Emilia’s wedding has already been ruined by her traitorous fiance and maid of honor, and as far as I’m concerned, this was never really Emilia’s wedding.]

 

[What the hell is that supposed to mean?] Sarah asks, clearly confused.

 

[Ya, what are you talking about? This is very clearly Emilia’s wedding… isn’t it?] Maddy continues, exchanging glances with the other girls in the room.

 

[No, it isn’t] Rie begins. [Emilia might be the one getting married, but this is not her wedding. It’s Julia’s.]

 

[Julia’s?]

 

[Ya, just think about it. From the moment we got here, Julia has had Emilia on a collar and lead, and rarely ever let's Emilia out of her sight. Why do you think that is?]

 

Nobody answers. Rie rolls her eyes and groans.

 

[Come on guys, think. From the moment we showed up here, Julia hasn’t let Emelia out of her sight even once, she’s completely controlling her every move and every word that comes out of her mouth, and on top of that she’s setting up distractions to draw attention away from  **something** . What do you think that something might be?]

 

Sarah and Maddy exchange confused glances for a moment before Ryo speaks.

 

[An affair] the raven haired man supplies.

 

[Exactly, thank you, love] Rie says. [Julia is controlling Emilia every second of the day, and setting up “distractions”, not because she’s trying to embarrass us like we initially thought, but because she’s trying to cover up her future son-in-law’s love affair with her daughter’s maid of honor. That’s what Julia’s plan is, and as soon as the ‘I-do’s’ are said, Emilia will be stuck in a loveless, miserable marriage with a man who’s been cheating on her for god knows how long, meanwhile Julia will be all set for the rest of her life, all at the expense of her own daughter’s life and happiness.]

 

Silence fills the room for a moment. 

 

[So what’s the plan, sis? You seem to have a pretty solid grasp of what’s going on. What do you think we should do?] Kaori asks, and all eyes turn to the blonde standing in the middle of them, curiously, slightly apprehensive looks on their faces. A cocky and mischievous smile slowly spreads across her face, and Ryo can tell before she even says anything, that there is no way any of this is going to end well for anyone.

 

[Don’t you worry about that] Rie says confidently. [I have just the plan in mind to ruin both this wedding, as well as everything Julia has planned.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know not a lot has happened and that I haven’t been uploading as much as I was, and I’m sorry about that, but I’m really busy right now, and I’m actually on vacation out of town, doing lots of touristy stuff, so its a bit hard finding time to write, but I’m not abandoning this story anytime soon, don’t worry. Shit’s really about to go down next chapter! Thanks, comment, love you, bye!!!


	39. How to Ruin a Wedding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Chapter. Enjoy!

Ryo isn’t entirely sure how he ended up in this situation, creeping down the halls of the hotel with Donny and Genji in tow, looking and acting like a couple of naughty boys sneaking into the kitchen to raid the cookie jar. A part of him really wants to just turn around and go back to the hotel room and abandon this stupid plan, but he was the one who wanted to trash the wedding in the first place, so he supposes he really shouldn’t be complaining.

 

[Uh, hey guys, are you sure we should be doing this?] Donny asks nervously, peering out from behind Ryo, a worried expression on his face.

 

[You’re the one who was so gung-ho about doing this in the first place, why are you chickening out now?] Genji chided from behind Donny, clearly displeased with having been stuck with both Ryo and Donny for this ‘operation’ that they had been assigned to.

 

[Well, I mean ya I thought it was a good idea when we were talking about it sure, but… I mean that’s just talk, I didn’t honestly think we’d actually go through with it] Donny responds.

 

[Well maybe you should have thought about that before signing yourself up for something like this] Genji says to an increasingly panicking Donny. Ryo rolls his eyes at the two younger boys behind him and shakes his head, honestly beginning to wish that he had stayed behind with Rie, Maddy, and Sarah instead of dealing with these two idiots. Then again, they had enough on their hands dealing with Emilia in the aftermath of finding out that her fiance was very much cheating on her, and with her maid of honor no less.

 

To be fair, even Ryo had to admit that Emilia took the news about as well as one probably could in her situation, and while there had been tears, lots and lots of tears, Emilia had been quick to recover and get on board with Rie’s plans, if only for the sake of getting back at Julia and her cheating fiance. Ryo wasn’t entirely certain what role Emilia would play in trashing her own wedding, but the raven haired man figured it must have been pretty significant, considering that the blonde had sent him, Genji, and Donny out of the room with a list of tasks to complete, and instructions not to bother the girls until they are finished with… whatever the hell it is they’re doing up in their shared suite at the moment. 

 

They had already finished with the shopping part of their to-do list, as well as informing Sam and a small handful of other people of both Emilia’s fiancé’s infidelity, showing the picture Maddy and Sarah took as proof, as well as their plans to ruin the wedding altogether. Strangely enough, everyone seemed pretty excited to hear about that, which Ryo supposes was a good thing. Despite this, the raven haired man can’t help but grimace down at the bottle of laxatives Rie had instructed him to pick up from the store, among a few other bits and bobs, unsure of why it was such a crucial aspect to her plan or how using it was going to turn out in practice. 

 

The sound of Donny and Genji arguing about something snaps Ryo from his pensive state. This is starting to get annoying.

 

[Will you two shut up. I can’t even hear myself think with you two yammering] Ryo whispers harshly, causing both younger men to stiffen and stare at him, mildly intimidated. [Now what the hell are we even doing down here?]

 

[We’re supposed to be bringing the stuff we bought down to a guy in the kitchens names Julien. I think Rie said something about him being head chef or something similar to that] Donny answers, though not sounding entirely confident in his statement. Ryo raises a questioning eyebrow and Genji merely rolls his eyes.

 

[Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Let's just get the stuff to this Julien guy and get the hell out of here before we get caught. The last thing we fucking need is Julia coming down here and finding out what we’re doing before we can even do it] Genji says, brushing past Ryo and Donny and heading down the hallway toward a pair of large stainless steel double doors, which, according to the sign posted on the wall, was the entrance to the hotel’s main kitchen. Ryo and Donny follow behind Genji, who enters the kitchen area first, holding the door open so the other two men can file inside behind him.

 

The inside of the main kitchen area is large and spacious, with various work benches, stove tops, and ovens organized and placed side by side in rows, maximizing the amount of bench space and cooking space the large room had to offer. Despite the lunch rush having ended a few hours ago, there were several cooks in the kitchen, prepping and getting ready for tonight’s dinner. One of the cooks looks up from their station and frowns, noticing the trio of men standing in the kitchen.

 

[Oi, didn’t you read the sign? It says staff only. What do you think you’re doing down here?] the cook asks, rather rudely, but Ryo pushes that aside for the time being.

 

[We’re looking for a guy named Julien] Ryo says. [You know where we might be able to find him?]

 

The cook eyes the trio of men warily for a moment, but reluctantly puts his knife down and heads over to a side room, opening the door and whispering something to the person inside, before returning to his station and continuing on with his job. A moment later a middle aged man with graying brown hair and a rather large midsection steps out of the side room and approaches the three men, a scowl on his face.

 

[So… which of you fine gentlemen is Ryo?] the robust man asks in a thick Russian accent. Ryo raises his hand, narrowing his eyes when the chef looks him up and down.

 

[And the other two?] Chef Julien asks, casting suspicious glances at Donny and Genji.

 

[Accomplices] Ryo says simply. Chef Julien merely nods his head, motioning for the trio to follow him back to his office, where he closes and locks the door behind him before sitting down behind his desk.

 

[I spoke briefly on the phone with your girlfriend Miss Rie earlier this morning. I've had my fair share of angry and disgruntled relatives call in asking for help in ruining weddings before, and if this were any other occasion I’d have told her to go fuck herself, just like I did all those other pretentious idiots] Julien begins, causing the three boys to exchange confused glances. [However, that bitch Julia has been on all of our asses for months now. She’s worked my chefs to the bone and refuses to let us do anything without her explicit approval. She has mocked, disrespected, and abused both myself and my workers for far too long, and I’m sick and fucking tired of listening to her mouth off about how much better she is than everyone else. And based on everything your girlfriend told me, assuming that it's all true, I think it's pretty safe to say that everyone else is too.]

 

[So I take it that means you’re going to help us then?] Genji asks.

 

Chef Julien sighs. [Long story short, yes, I’ve decided to aid you in your little scheme to screw over that ungrateful witch and the shithead her daughter is marrying, granted that any and all blame, in the event this gets found out, gets put on all of you, and not on me or my staff. If this little plan of yours gets found out, I’m not taking the fall for you. Are we in agreement on this?]

 

A moment of silence passes over the group of men.

 

[I suppose that’s fair enough] Donny comments, looking over at Ryo, who nods his head in agreement.

 

[Ya, don’t worry. If everything goes to shit and Julia does find out about this somewhere, we’ll be the ones to take the blame, not you.]

 

Chef Julien narrows his eyes and taps his fingers against the top of his desk for a short moment, before sighing and standing up. [Very well then. It seems as though we are in agreement. In that case, do you have everything I requested?]

 

Ryo hands over the plastic bag filled with all the items Rie instructed them to pick up from the story. Chef Julien inspects the contents of the bag and smiles once he finishes, closing the bag and placing it in a drawer of his desk, locking it up with a key he has on his waist. 

 

[Thank you, gentlemen, it's been a pleasure working with you, but you’re role in this plan has reached it’s end. Let us do our part and you’ll be able to see the fruits of your labor come the day of the wedding] Chef Julien states, smiling politely at the trio before exiting the office and heading off somewhere into the kitchen, presumably to help finish preparing for tonight's dinner.

 

[We’re all gonna get poisoned, aren’t we?] Donny asks dejectedly, warily eyeing the drawer where Chef Julien had just locked up all the various drug store purchases they had given him.

 

[Ya. I think you might be right about that, Donny] Genji says, for once sharing the younger boys nervousness, casting a distrustful glance of his own toward the drawer in question.

 

Ryo sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. [Whatever, I don’t even care at this point. I’m getting a fucking drink. You guys coming?]

 

[I’m in] Genji says.

 

[I’ve forgot my wallet upstairs] Donny laments sadly.

 

[You can pay me back later. Come on, let’s go get drunk] Ryo says, pushing both Genji and Donny out of the kitchens and upstairs toward the hotel’s bar, something in the back of Ryo’s mind telling him that he was going to need every drop of alcohol he could get his hands on if he was going to make it out of the next 24 hours with his sanity intact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I know its been fucking forever since Ive last uploaded anything, and I am very sorry about that. I’m currently going through some family emergencies right now, which means that I have little time, or conversely, little energy left at the end of the day to write anything. I had a sudden start of inspiration earlier today and decided to ride the wave as best I could after I put my 4 year old cousin to sleep. Had to wait until after she fell asleep because she goes absolutely bonkers every time she sees it and refuses to stop pestering me to let her play games on it, and cries every time I say no. Her older brother is much the same way, except not only does he ask a million times for a turn to play on it, but he also likes to press the home button and close my screen just to annoy me. Don’t get me wrong, they are great kids and I love them to absolute pieces, but they sure as hell love the iPad too, and are willing to do just about anything to get a turn on such an exciting device. Context: their parents aren’t against technology or anything, but they don’t go out and buy them loads of tech stuff to play with and mostly just tell them to go outside and play with friends, but because Cousin Genevieve is in town and because its been hot as balls lately, they tend to spend a lot of time indoors with me, and i usually let them do whatever on the iPad as a way to keep them entertained when puzzles and board games start to bore them, and to give me a break and surf tumblr on my phone. However this also means that I have 0 access to my iPad pretty much all day because I’m apparently not allowed a turn on my own damn iPad. Oh well, i suppose this is what I get for giving them free range on the iPad in the first place.  
> I don’t know if ill be able to get back onto a set schedule like I did for the month of April, where I basically was writing nonstop for this story and posted every fucking day because it was toward the end of the semester and I needed SOMETHING to help me keep my sanity from fucking collapsing, but I will be posting more soon, once things have settled down and I’m not all over the place.  
> Thank you all so much for your patience with me, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, make sure to leave a comment down below letting me know what you thought of it, and as always I will see you all soon for chapter 40. Love you, bye!!!! <3
> 
> P.S. there’s a smut chapter coming soon, and Ive never written smut before, so I’m gonna need somebody to beta read it so I don’t accidentally embarace myself on the internet for writing really shitty smut, so if you wanna beta read my smut chapter when I get around to writing it, hit me up and I’ll send it to you before i post it. Thanks, much appreciated, please help me idk how to write smut.


	40. Loose Lips

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Wrote it while drunk. Its very sappy and involves a lot of drinking and being drunk and Ryo declaring his undying love for Rie. Enjoy!

The morning of the wedding begins bright and early for Ryo, 5:30 in the morning to be precise, signaled by the god awful squawking sound of the telephone placed on the table next to the bed, which, as Rie finds out upon answering the phone, was an alarm that Julia had oh so kindly set up for all the guests so that, and I quote, “no one would accidentally sleep in and miss out on any of the gloriousness of today’s ceremonies”.

 

Never before in his life had Ryo wanted to choke someone to death more than he did Julia in this moment. At this point he doubts anyone would even rat him out for it. 

 

Rie thanks the man on the phone before placing the receiver back in its place and immediately rolling back over, burying her face in Ryo’s chest, and covering her head with the blankets, clearly intent on going right back to sleep, an idea that Ryo can very much get behind. Unfortunately the sound of someone knocking on the door of their room interrupted those plans.

 

[What d’you want?] Rie yells from under the covers. 

 

The door opens and Kaori peeks her head in, a fresh, clean bandage having just been placed over her stitches. [You guys get that lovely wake up call from Julia this morning?]

 

[If by lovely you mean obnoxious and rage-inducing then yes, we did get that] Ryo replies. [Why that bitch felt the need to wake us up at the asscrack of dawn though, I’m not entirely sure.]

 

[Ya well, apparently there’s a reason for the early wake up call. Apparently breakfast is only being held from 6 until 8 today] Kaori informs them.

 

[WHAT?] Rie squawks, lifting her head from Ryo’s chest to stare at her sister in utter disbelief. [You’re joking?]

 

[Wish I wasn’t] Kaori states tiredly.

 

[Ugh, fucking bitch] Rie groans in frustration, but rips the blankets off and gets out of bed anyways, heading toward the bathroom and closing the door behind her, reluctantly beginning to get ready. Kaori turns back to Ryo. 

 

[We’re heading down in 20 minutes.]

 

[Alright] he responds, shoving a pillow over his face as Kaori closes the door behind her.

 

Roughly 25 minutes later, Ryo, Rie, Kaori, Donny, and Genji all exit the elevator, dressed up nicely in the attire they are going to be wearing at the actual wedding ceremony, and head toward the dining area, where a grand majority of the guests have already entered and begun filling plates with food. The group of young adults follow suit, but instead of heading to where their assigned name cards are placed, they merely pick a table and sit down at it, ignoring any and all attempts of people telling them to go sit where they’ve been assigned.

 

At first, Ryo is slightly hesitant to eat any of the food that came from the kitchens, vividly remembering the bottle of laxatives that he handed the head chef Julien the night before.

 

“Are you sure we should be eating this stuff? Isn’t it contaminated?” Ryo asks, leaning in to whisper to Rie, who started eating her food without the slightest bit of hesitation.

 

“None of the food that goes in the dining hall has been touched. I told the head chef to only put the ‘special ingredients’ into the food and drinks of the bridesmaids and groomsmen, so they’re the only ones who will be getting sick” Rie explains.

 

“But how do they know what food they’ll get?”

 

“The bride and groom have special rooms reserved that are designated for them to get ready in, and while they’re getting ready, they’ll typically snack on little trays of food and glasses of wine or champaign, and that’s the food that the head chef will be tampering with.”

 

“What about your cousin?”

 

“She’ll just forgo any of the food and drinks. All she has to do is say she’s going to be sick and head to the bathroom and no one will try and force her to eat or drink anything in fear that she might throw up all over her dress.”

 

“Oh” Ryo nods in understanding, returning to his plate of food and beginning to eat.

 

After a moment of silence, Genji speaks up. [Has anybody seen Uncle Sam. He was out of the room when I woke up this morning?]

 

[I think I saw him at the bar] Donny answers through a mouthful of pork sausage.

 

[Is the bar even open yet?] Rie asks curiously.

 

[I think I saw him mixing his own drink] Donny comments. 

 

Ryo chuckles at this. [Well in that case, I think I’ll go grab one from him] he says, getting up from his seat.

 

[Grab me a gin and tonic, will you?] Rie calls after him just as he exits the dining area.

 

As Ryo approaches the bar, he sees that Donny’s observation was, in fact, correct, and Sam was indeed at the bar, behind it specifically, and pouring himself a drink of some kind out of a fancy looking bottle.

 

[Isn’t taking alcohol you didn’t pay for stealing here?] Ryo asks as he approaches the bar and takes a seat. 

 

Sam smiles in amusement at the younger man’s comment. [It’s not stealing if they make getting at it as easy as picking a single lock, and if it is then they deserve to be stolen from] the man says, placing the bottle down on the counter and taking a swig from his glass.

 

[Can I get anything for you?]

 

[Rie wants a gin and tonic, and I’ll take that bottle of whiskey on the top shelf] Ryo says, watching as Sam sets his own drink down and gets to work on making the gin and tonic, setting it down on the counter in front of Ryo, before grabbing the bottle of whiskey that the younger man pointed to and placing that next to the gin and tonic.

 

[How do you take your whiskey?] Sam asks, and in response, Ryo takes the bottle, uncaps it, and tips it into his mouth, chugging the liquid down with ease as Sam bursts out laughing. 

 

[Oh Christ, I knew there was something I liked about you] Sam says, clapping his hands together in amusement as Ryo sets the whiskey bottle down on the counter, enjoying the warm burn that begins to spread throughout his chest.

 

[Pardon what might be a rather ignorant question, but since when do the Japanese drink whiskey straight out of the bottle?] Sam asks, leaning back against the alcohol cabinet.

 

[My dad loved whiskey] Ryo replies, fiddling with the cap in his left hand. [He used to have half a bottle every night in his study after he got home from work. He collected the bottles too, had a cabinet full of his favorite ones next to his desk. I used to steal sips from his glass when he wasn’t looking, so I got used to the taste by the time I was a teenager. He definitely knew I was doing it, but for some reason he never said anything about it.]

 

Sam nods. [Your dad sounds pretty awesome.]

 

[Ya] Ryo says quietly. [He was. And so was my mom.]

 

A look of understanding flashes across Sam’s face as Ryo raises the whiskey bottle to his lips and takes a couple more glugs, sighing heavily when he finally puts it down.

 

[Since we’re in the business of asking ignorant questions] Ryo begins, [how the hell did you of all people end up marrying such a shitty person like Julia?]

 

Sam chuckles to himself, and drops his gaze down to his shoes. [Well, you see, Julia and I first met many years ago, at a work function of mine. She was there by herself and I just so happened to bump into her and strike up a conversation. Long story short, she and I hit it off really well, we dated for a year or so, fell in love, and eventually got married, only to divorce about 5 or 6 years later.]

 

Before Ryo can say anything, Sam continues.

 

[Now I know what you might be thinking, but I assure you that Julia wasn’t nearly as bad back then as she is now, at least I don’t think she was.]

 

[What do you mean?] Ryo asks curiously. 

 

[What I mean is that when Julia and I were first dating, she was the love of my life and I envisioned us spending the rest of our lives together, and I think in the beginning she did too… but then things changed. She started changing. All of a sudden everything was about the money, everything was about how much we were worth, everything was about how everybody else saw us and how much of our wealth we could flaunt in front of everybody else. At first I just dealt with it, and figured that it had something to do with her growing up poor, but over time things just got worse and worse from there, and before I knew it, the woman I loved saw me as nothing more than an open bank account waiting to be emptied. It still took me 3 years to get fed up with it and leave.]

 

[Why so long?]

 

Sam heaves a sigh and places his drink next to him, crossing his arms over his chest. [Because even though I knew she wasn’t treating me right, I still loved her with all my heart, and the thing about loving someone as much as I loved Julia, or hell, as much as you love Rie, is that you see the world through rose colored glasses, and when you see the world through rose colored glasses, all the red flags that everybody is shoving in your face and warning you about constantly… they just look like flags. It isn’t until much later that you’re able to see just how wrongly you were treated, and even then you still might blame yourself for everything that went wrong, and wonder if you had just been a better husband, would your wife, the woman you loved with every fiber of your being, still be with you, and still love you like she did deep down all those years ago?]

 

A silence falls over the two men, weighing heavily on both of them. Ryo takes another drink as Sam pours himself another glass and shoots it.

 

[And that's why I was so happy about meeting you. Because for the longest time I thought Julia and I had what you and Rie have] Sam says out of the blue, causing Ryo to pause mid-chug and fix him with a confused expression. 

 

[I was always somewhat afraid that my nieces and nephews might end up in the same situation I was in. Stuck in loveless relationships with people who didn’t love and appreciate them in the way that they deserved. Then you came along, and I saw how much you cherish Rie. The way you look at her, the way you touch her, the way you act around her. You must really love her.]

 

Ryo smiles slightly and taps his fingers against the rim of the bottle in his right hand, a fuzzy, slightly numbing feeling beginning to work its way throughout his body, a sign that the whiskey was finally beginning to take effect. 

 

Ryo takes another swig before speaking. [That crazy bitch is the best thing to ever happen to me in my entire life. She saw an asshole with a shitty life and no future, and decided to give me a chance anyways. I told myself a long time ago when my parents died that I’d never trust anyone ever again, I’d never allow anyone to get close to me, I’d do everything by myself, I’d never need anyone to be there for me, and I’d push anyone who tried away, and for a long time I was pretty successful at that.]

 

[And then she showed up?] Sam asks, a knowing look on his face.

 

[And then she showed up] Ryo repeats, taking another swig. [With that stupid smile and that friendly, fun-loving attitude, and after everything I had done to build up the walls around me, she comes around and I just… caved. I didn’t realize it at first, but I did, and then before I knew it, before I could do anything to stop it, I was at the point where I couldn’t imagine my life without her. But I didn’t want her… well, I guess that’s not true, I did want her, Rie was everything I ever wanted in life and more, but I guess deep down I was afraid that I’d just end up ruining her, just like I’d ruined every other aspect of my shitty life.

 

[That didn’t seem to stop her at all] Sam comments.

 

[No it didn’t. And for as long as I live I will never understand what that woman sees in me. But for whatever reason she seems to think that I’m somehow worth her time and love, so even if she’s a massive pain in my ass sometimes, I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that I make her as happy as she’s made me] Ryo says.

 

Another moment of silence passes before Sam speaks up.

 

[You know, there’s this old saying a friend of mine had that he told me once, many years ago. He said that you can always judge the true character of a man, based on the size of his woman’s smile. And if that girl’s smile, whenever she looks at you, is anything to go by] Sam leans in and lowers his voice to barely above a whisper, [then you must be a pretty amazing man.]

 

Sam stands back up and chuckles to himself, pouring another drink and immediately shooting it. Ryo merely remains silent, taking in the words that Sam just said to him, which was a bit more difficult than usual with all the alcohol running through his system.

 

[Is my gin and tonic ready, or is this a closed drinking session?] the sound of Rie’s voice asks from a few yards away, the blonde standing with her hands on her hips, slightly annoyed expression etched on her face.

 

“I’ve got it right here” Ryo says, holding the drink up for the blonde to see.

 

Rie walks over to where the two men are talking, takes the drink out of Ryo’s hand, kicks off her, and then slides her way into Ryo’s lap. The raven haired man does not attempt to stop her.

 

[Did you know your boyfriend was a romantic?] Sam asks as Rie takes her first sip of the drink. [I never would have pegged him for one just by looking at him.]

 

[Mmmm] Rie hums, setting the drink down. [He gets very poetic when he’s drunk, I’m trying to get him to submit something to a contest back home. I’m sure he’d win something.]

 

Ryo rolls his eyes and shakes his head in response to the ongoing joke Rie has tortured him with every since they got drunk together for the first time, but wraps his arm around Rie’s waist anyways, securing the smaller woman in place and preventing her from falling out of his lap.

 

[So how are things on the front lines?] Sam asks as Rie finished off the gin and tonic and hands the glass back for a second drink.

 

[Awful] the blonde begins. [The groom’s father looks like a sweaty, overstuffed sausage threatening to break out from his casing and Julia’s been fake crying about giving up her precious daughter for the past half-hour. I’m about 2 seconds away from stabbing my eyes out with a fork if this nonsense continues.]

 

[Well, if this plan of yours goes well, then you’ll be the one laughing the last laugh by the end of today] Sam says, handing Rie another gin and tonic.

 

[God I hope you’re right] Rie says, though more to herself than anyone else. [Because at this point, there isn’t enough alcohol in all of Great Britain to make me feel ready for the shitstorm that’s about to take place at this wedding.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooo boy this is a sappy chapter. Probably really ooc too, but you know what, I don’t really care. This is my story and Ryo can be a sappy boy because I say he can, and also because he loves his girl and wants everybody to know that he loves her dammit.  
> Anyways, I know i said I probably wasn’t gonna post very often because life is just railing me up the ass right now, but after about half a bottle of vodka, I felt the urge to sit down and write this. I hav no idea if its any good. I’m probably gonna regret doing this tomorrow, but it’s whatever. Thank god for autocorrect.  
> So ya, I’m gonna stop talking and go to bed. Thanks for reading, comment and let me know if I’m any better or worse of a writer while mildly wasted. I love you all and i hope to see yo usooon. Bye!!!L!L!!K!K!K!

**Author's Note:**

> I posted a kind of rough draft for chapters 1 and 2 to tumblr a little while ago, so I don’t really have to much to say about this chapter that I haven’t discussed with my friends over there. I think this is a good place to start, it does a decent job of setting up the story as well as how I plan on writing Mashiba, so all in all, not back for an un-betaed first chapter. Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed chapter 1, leave me a comment down below letting me know what you thought of the chapter, and as always, I will hopefully see you all soon for chapter 2. Bye!


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